Systems and methods for converting sales opportunities to service tickets, sales orders, and projects

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of the present disclosure facilitate managing a sale via a sales management system. In some embodiments, the system includes a sales opportunity module and a service ticket translation module. The sales opportunity module may be configured to receive a sales leads data structure comprising at least one sales lead. Based on at least one qualification criterion, the system may be configured to identify a sales lead of the sales lead data structure as a sales opportunity. The service ticket translation module may be configured to select data of the sales opportunity for inclusion in a service ticket. By maintaining the selected data of the sales opportunity, the service ticket translation module may be configured to translate the selected data of the sales opportunity into the service ticket. The service ticket translation module may be configured to provide the service ticket to a service board.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to sales management systems.More specifically, the present disclosure relates to the management ofsales opportunities by a sales management system, and the use of a salesmanagement system to facilitate the efficient handoff of a closed salesopportunity to other parts of an organization.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sales management systems can be used to manage sales leads, qualify thesales leads to select sales opportunities from the sales leads, andfacilitate the management of the sales process to drive the closing ofthe sales opportunities to finalize sales.

Service ticketing systems can be used to catalog, track, and manage thecompletion of tasks needed to support a sale. A service ticketing systemcan facilitate the management of the tasks by service managers, and canfacilitate the completion of the tasks by service technicians.

Sales order systems can be used to generate sales orders for purchasingproducts needed to support a sale. A sales order system can facilitatethe management of vendor delivery of the products, and can facilitatethe tracking and delivery of the products as needed.

Project planning systems can schedule and manage projects needed tosupport a sale. A project planning system can facilitate the entry,management, and tracking of the tasks and subtasks needed for completionof the projects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Sales management systems can greatly facilitate the sales process. Salesmanagement systems can help to keep track of a large number of leads,organize the process of qualifying the leads, and standardize thequalification and selection of leads for pursuit as sales opportunities.Sales management systems can also standardize the process of moving asales opportunity through the sales process and driving the salesopportunity toward completion as either a lost opportunity or a closedsale. During the entire process from lead to closed sale, the salesmanagement system can facilitate the collection and storage of allinformation and requirements associated with the sale, and ensure thatno customer communications or documents are lost. The sales managementsystem can also assist with the preparation, delivery, and update ofcustomer quotations for services and products. A sales management systemcan also greatly improve the communication between the many members of asales team and give the sales team members access to shared informationthat is essential for doing their job.

Once a sale is closed, the sales management system can facilitate thehandoff of the sale to other entities within the organization to deliverthe products and services to the customer. For example, the salesmanagement system can facilitate the conversion of sales data to thepurchasing department, which may be responsible for procuring anddelivering hardware and software products to the customer. Continuingthe example, the sales management system can also facilitate theconversion of sales data to the service department, which may beresponsible for installing, configuring, and maintaining those productsat the customer site. Continuing the example further, the salesmanagement system can also facilitate the conversion of sales data tothe engineering department, which may be responsible for designing andimplementing custom configurations required by the customer.

The sales management system may need to convert the sales data todifferent tools used by each of these departments for managing andimplementing their workload. For example, for the purchasing department,the sales management system may need to convert sales data into a salesorder system to track product procurement and interface with externalvendors. Continuing the example, for the service department, the salesmanagement system may need to convert sales data into a serviceticketing system to track, prioritize, assign, and complete the manytasks the service department needs to manage. Continuing the examplefurther, for the engineering department, the sales management system mayneed to convert sales data into a project management system to plan,schedule, and implement the complex projects the engineering departmentmust complete for customers.

Much of the information needed by these individual systems (the salesorder system, service ticketing system, and project management system)may already be present in the sales management system and may have beencollected, updated and verified by the sales team during the salesprocess. The handoff of the sale from the sales department to otherdepartments can involve the conversion of information from the salesmanagement system to the other tools used for managing and implementingthe delivery of the sale to the customer. The present disclosuredescribes the automation of the handoff in a way that may help tominimize the introduction of human error in the handoff, which mayresult in greatly improved efficiency of the business processes andgreatly improved customer satisfaction.

Systems and methods of the present disclosure facilitate managing a salevia a sales management system. For example, the present disclosureprovides a sales opportunity module and a service ticket translationmodule. The sales opportunity module can receive sales leads andidentify a sales lead as a sales opportunity based on at least onequalifying criterion. The service ticket translation module can selectdata of the sales opportunity for inclusion in a service ticket,translate the selected data of the sales opportunity into the serviceticket, and provide the service ticket to a service board.

At least one aspect of the present disclosure is directed to systems andmethods for converting a sales opportunity to at least one sales order.For example, the present disclosure provides a sales order translationmodule, which can select data of the sales opportunity for inclusion ina sales order, translate the selected data of the sales opportunity intothe sales order, and provide the sales order to a sales order managementmodule.

At least one aspect of the present disclosure is directed to systems andmethods for converting a sales opportunity to at least one project. Forexample, the present disclosure provides a project translation module,which can select data of the sales opportunity for inclusion in aproject, translate the selected data of the sales opportunity into theproject, and provide the project to a project management module.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The details of one or more implementations of the subject matterdescribed in this specification are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of the subject matter will become apparent from thedescription, the drawings, and the claims.

FIG. 1A is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of a systemfor converting a sales opportunity to one or more service tickets.

FIG. 1B is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of a systemfor converting a sales opportunity to one or more sales orders.

FIG. 1C is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of a systemfor converting a sales opportunity to one or more projects.

FIGS. 2A-B are illustrative block diagrams of embodiments of theinteraction between customers, sales, service, purchasing, engineering,and finance.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of themanagement of sales opportunities and their handoff from sales toservice, purchasing, and engineering.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of the use ofservice tickets.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of the use ofsales orders.

FIG. 6 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of the use ofprojects.

FIGS. 7A-C are illustrative tables representing embodiments of data in asales opportunity.

FIG. 8 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of theconversion of a sales opportunity to service tickets, sales orders, andprojects.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of updating asales opportunity.

FIG. 10 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating a sales opportunity.

FIG. 11 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the notes associated with a sales opportunity.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the documents associated with a sales opportunity.

FIGS. 13A-E are illustrative examples of embodiments of user interfacesfor converting a sales opportunity to one or more service tickets,converting a sales opportunity to one or more sales orders, andconverting a sales opportunity to one or more projects.

FIG. 14 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing a quote created from a sales opportunity.

FIG. 15 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating a service ticket.

FIG. 16 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the products associated with a service ticket.

FIG. 17 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the financial aspects of a service ticket.

FIG. 18 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating a sales order.

FIG. 19 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the products associated with a sales order.

FIG. 20 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor viewing a project as a Gantt chart.

FIG. 21 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating a phase of a project.

FIG. 22 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating a task of a project.

FIG. 23 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating the notes associated with a project.

FIG. 24 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating the documents associated with a project.

FIG. 25 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating the products associated with a project.

FIG. 26 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing a project board.

FIG. 27 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the scheduling of a project.

FIG. 28 is an illustrative flowchart depicting one embodiment of amethod of converting a sales opportunity to a service ticket.

FIG. 29 is an illustrative flowchart depicting one embodiment of amethod of identifying a sales lead as a sales opportunity.

FIG. 30 is an illustrative flowchart depicting one embodiment of amethod of selecting data of a sales opportunity by a service tickettranslation module.

FIG. 31 is an illustrative flowchart depicting one embodiment of amethod of translating selected data of a sales opportunity into aservice ticket.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicatelike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods of the present disclosure can use informationcollected by the sales staff during the process of closing a sale tomake an effective and efficient handoff of the sale to the service,purchasing, and engineering departments in order to deliver the requiredproducts and services to the customer. The sales management system canmanage the sales process for the sales staff, provide and updatequotations to customers, and keep track of customer documents andrequirements. The information in the sales management system may then beautomatically converted to service tickets used by the servicedepartment, sales orders used by the purchasing department, and projectsused by the engineering department. The automatic conversion may improvethe efficiency of the business processes of the organization, and mayalso improve customer satisfaction with the sale and delivery.

In an illustrative example, the customer may want an internal networkwith an email server. The sales department may determine that the jobwill require wiring the network, installing a router, installing anemail server, configuring the email server, and providing maintenance onall components. The sales department may provide several quotes to thecustomer with different options and pricing. The customer may providevery specific requirements on the way the networking cables must behidden in the lobby and conference room. All of the information can berecorded in the sales management system to clarify what the finalagreement is and what the customer requirements are. Once the sale isclosed, the sales opportunity can be converted to a sales order for thenetwork cabling and connectors, the router, the email server, and theoperating system and email server software for the server. The salesopportunity can also be converted to service tickets for installing andconfiguring the router, installing the server, installing andconfiguring the operating system, installing and configuring the emailserver, configuring the customer machines to use the server, andproviding ongoing maintenance on the router and server. The salesopportunity can also be converted to a project for installing thenetworking wiring and taking care of the customer requirements forconcealing the wiring in the lobby and conference room.

FIG. 1A is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of a systemfor converting sales opportunities to one or more service tickets. Thesales opportunity module 101 can receive a sales lead data structure 102comprising at least one sales lead 301. The sales opportunity module 101can use at least one qualification criterion to identify a qualifiedsales lead 301 to become a sales opportunity 302. The service tickettranslation module 901 a can select data 808 of the sales opportunity302 for inclusion in a service ticket 303. Note that labels 901 a - 901c are collectively referred to as 901. The service ticket translationmodule 901 a may translate the data 808 into the service ticket 303while maintaining the selected data 808 of the sales opportunity 302.Note that labels 302 a - 302 c are collectively referred to as 302. Theservice ticket translation module 901 a may provide the service ticket303 to a service board 401.

The sales opportunity module 101 can use at least one qualificationcriterion to identify a qualified sales lead 301 to become a salesopportunity 302. For example, one qualification criterion can be aminimum threshold on the number of times the sales lead 301 has beencontacted, which may be derived from analyzing the Activities 701. Inanother example, one qualification criterion can be the existence of acompleted phone call with the sales lead 301, which may be derived fromanalyzing the Next step 701. In still another example, one qualificationcriterion can be the existence of an appointment set up to contact thesales lead 301, which may be derived from analyzing the Sales Stage 701.In yet another example, one qualification criterion can be an indicationthat a quote is being created or has been created for the sales lead301, which may be derived from analyzing the Quotes 701. In thepreceding description, references to items 701 will be described morefully with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The service ticket translation module 901 a can select data 808 of thesales opportunity 302 for inclusion in a service ticket 303. Forexample, the service ticket translation module 901 a can verify that thesales opportunity 302 has been closed before selecting data 808 from thesales opportunity 302; the verification may be derived from analyzingthe Close date 701 and verifying that it has already passed. In anotherexample, the service ticket translation module 901 a can verify thatrequired data is present in the sales opportunity 302 before selectingdata 808 from the sales opportunity 302; the verification may be derivedfrom analyzing the presence of the required data, such as the Won withinRevenue 701 and verifying that it is greater than zero. In still anotherexample, the service ticket translation module 901 a can verify theconsistency of data in the sales opportunity 302 before selecting data808 from the sales opportunity 302; the verification may be analyzed bycomparing relevant data in the sales opportunity 302, such as comparingthe Revenue with the sum of all the Extended price within Productswithin Forecast 701 and verifying that they are the same. In yet anotherexample, the service ticket translation module 901 a can limit theselection of data 808 to be information that is relevant to servicetickets; the limiting can include data such as the Contact information701, and can exclude data such as the Margin 701. In the precedingdescription, references to items 701 will be described more fully withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The service ticket translation module 901 a may translate the data 808into the service ticket 303 while maintaining the selected data 808 ofthe sales opportunity 302. The translation can comprise significantanalysis of data. The service ticket translation module 901 a maycombine data from multiple sources; for example, the service tickettranslation module 901 a may derive the deadline for a service ticket byanalyzing the Close date 701 to estimate the service start, analyzingthe line items in the Quotes 701 to include any promises made to thecustomer, and analyzing the Inventory availability within Productswithin Forecast 701 to estimate the delay in procuring required parts.The service ticket translation module 901 a may generate multipleservice tickets 303 from a single sales opportunity 302; for example, ifProducts within Forecast 701 includes a reference to an email server,this can generate one service ticket 303 to install the hardware for theserver, another service ticket 303 to install the operating system onthe server, and still another service ticket 303 to install andconfigure the email server software. The service ticket translationmodule 901 a may generate prioritization information within the serviceticket 303 that may be helpful to a service manager for deciding how toschedule the service tickets 303; for example, the service tickettranslation module 901 a may assign a higher priority to a serviceticket 303 translated from a sales opportunity 302 with a larger valueof Revenue 701, and in another example, the service ticket translationmodule 901 a may assign a higher priority to a service ticket 303translated from a sales opportunity 302 for which the history of changesin Sales stage 701 indicate that the customer has expedited the purchaseprocess. In the preceding description, references to items 701 will bedescribed more fully with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

FIG. 1B is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of a systemfor converting sales opportunities to one or more sales orders. Thesales opportunity module 101 can receive a sales lead data structure 102comprising at least one sales lead 301. The sales opportunity module 101can use at least one qualification criterion to identify a qualifiedsales lead 301 to become a sales opportunity 302. The sales ordertranslation module 901 b can select data 809 of the sales opportunity302 for inclusion in a sales order 304. The sales order translationmodule 901 b may translate the data 809 into the sales order 304 whilemaintaining the selected data 809 of the sales opportunity 302. Thesales order translation module 901 b may provide the sales order 304 toa sales order management module 103.

The sales opportunity module 101 can use at least one qualificationcriterion to identify a qualified sales lead 301 to become a salesopportunity 302. For example, one qualification criterion can be aminimum threshold on the number of times the sales lead 301 has beencontacted, which may be derived from analyzing the Activities 701. Inanother example, one qualification criterion can be the existence of acompleted phone call with the sales lead 301, which may be derived fromanalyzing the Next step 701. In still another example, one qualificationcriterion can be the existence of an appointment set up to contact thesales lead 301, which may be derived from analyzing the Sales Stage 701.In yet another example, one qualification criterion can be an indicationthat a quote is being created or has been created for the sales lead301, which may be derived from analyzing the Quotes 701. In thepreceding description, references to items 701 will be described morefully with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The sales order translation module 901 b can select data 809 of thesales opportunity 302 for inclusion in a service ticket 303. Forexample, the sales order translation module 901 b can verify that thesales opportunity 302 has been closed before selecting data 809 from thesales opportunity 302; the verification may be derived from analyzingthe Close date 701 and verifying that it has already passed. In anotherexample, the sales order translation module 901 b can verify thatrequired data is present in the sales opportunity 302 before selectingdata 809 from the sales opportunity 302; the verification may be derivedfrom analyzing the presence of the required data, such as the Won withinRevenue 701 and verifying that it is greater than zero. In still anotherexample, the sales order translation module 901 b can verify theconsistency of data in the sales opportunity 302 before selecting data809 from the sales opportunity 302; the verification may be analyzed bycomparing relevant data in the sales opportunity 302, such as comparingthe Revenue with the sum of all the Extended price within Productswithin Forecast 701 and verifying that they are the same. In yet anotherexample, the sales order translation module 901 b can limit theselection of data 809 to be information that is relevant to salesorders; the limiting can include data such as the Contact information701, and can exclude data such as the Margin 701. In the precedingdescription, references to items 701 will be described more fully withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The sales order translation module 901 b may translate the data 809 intothe sales order 304 while maintaining the selected data 809 of the salesopportunity 302. The translation can comprise significant analysis ofdata. The sales order translation module 901 b may combine data frommultiple sources; for example, the sales order translation module 901 bmay derive the deadline for ordering a part by analyzing the Close date701 to estimate the start of the project, analyzing the line items inthe Quotes 701 to include any promises made to the customer, andanalyzing the Inventory availability within Products within Forecast 701to estimate the delay in procuring the part. The sales order translationmodule 901 b may generate multiple sales orders 304 from a single salesopportunity 302; for example, if Products within Forecast 701 includesparts from more than one vendor, this can generate a separate salesorder 304 for each vendor. The sales order translation module 901 b maygenerate prioritization information within the sales order 304 that maybe helpful to a procurement manager for deciding how to allocateresources when supplies are limited; for example, the sales ordertranslation module 901 b may assign a higher priority to a sales order304 translated from a sales opportunity 302 with a larger value ofRevenue 701, and in another example, the sales order translation module901 b may assign a higher priority to a sales order 304 translated froma sales opportunity 302 for which the history of changes in Sales stage701 indicate that the customer has expedited the purchase process. Inthe preceding description, references to items 701 will be describedmore fully with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

FIG. 1C is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of a systemfor converting sales opportunities to one or more projects. The salesopportunity module 101 can receive a sales lead data structure 102comprising at least one sales lead 301. The sales opportunity module 101can use at least one qualification criterion to identify a qualifiedsales lead 301 to become a sales opportunity 302. The projecttranslation module 901 c can select data 810 of the sales opportunity302 for inclusion in a project 305. The project translation module 901 cmay translate the data 810 into the project 305 while maintaining theselected data 810 of the sales opportunity 302. The project translationmodule 901 c may provide the project 305 to a project management module612.

The sales opportunity module 101 can use at least one qualificationcriterion to identify a qualified sales lead 301 to become a salesopportunity 302. For example, one qualification criterion can be aminimum threshold on the number of times the sales lead 301 has beencontacted, which may be derived from analyzing the Activities 701. Inanother example, one qualification criterion can be the existence of acompleted phone call with the sales lead 301, which may be derived fromanalyzing the Next step 701. In still another example, one qualificationcriterion can be the existence of an appointment set up to contact thesales lead 301, which may be derived from analyzing the Sales Stage 701.In yet another example, one qualification criterion can be an indicationthat a quote is being created or has been created for the sales lead301, which may be derived from analyzing the Quotes 701. In thepreceding description, references to items 701 will be described morefully with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The project translation module 901 c can select data 810 of the salesopportunity 302 for inclusion in a project 305. For example, the projecttranslation module 901 c can verify that the sales opportunity 302 hasbeen closed before selecting data 810 from the sales opportunity 302;the verification may be derived from analyzing the Close date 701 andverifying that it has already passed. In another example, the projecttranslation module 901 c can verify that required data is present in thesales opportunity 302 before selecting data 810 from the salesopportunity 302; the verification may be derived from analyzing thepresence of the required data, such as the Won within Revenue 701 andverifying that it is greater than zero. In still another example, theproject translation module 901 c can verify the consistency of data inthe sales opportunity 302 before selecting data 810 from the salesopportunity 302; the verification may be analyzed by comparing relevantdata in the sales opportunity 302, such as comparing the Revenue withthe sum of all the Extended price within Products within Forecast 701and verifying that they are the same. In yet another example, theproject translation module 901 c can limit the selection of data 810 tobe information that is relevant to projects; the limiting can includedata such as the Contact information 701, and can exclude data such asthe Margin 701. In the preceding description, references to items 701will be described more fully with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The project translation module 901 c may translate the data 810 into theproject 305 while maintaining the selected data 810 of the salesopportunity 302. The translation can comprise significant analysis ofdata. The project translation module 901 c may combine data frommultiple sources; for example, the project translation module 901 c mayderive the deadline for a task by analyzing the Close date 701 toestimate the project start time, analyzing the line items in the Quotes701 to include any promises made to the customer, and using externaldata to estimate the work time involved in a task. The projecttranslation module 901 c may generate multiple projects 305 from asingle sales opportunity 302; for example, if Products within Forecast701 includes a reference to an e-commerce web site, this can generateone project 305 to design and implement the front-end web interface forthe site, another project 305 to design and implement the databasesupport for the site, and still another project 305 to set up thebanking and security interface for the site. The project translationmodule 901 c may generate prioritization information within the project305 that may be helpful to a project manager for deciding how toallocate implementation resources for the project 305; for example, theproject translation module 901 c may assign a higher priority to aproject 305 translated from a sales opportunity 302 with a larger valueof Revenue 701, and in another example, the project translation module901 c may assign a higher priority to a service ticket 305 translatedfrom a sales opportunity 302 for which the history of changes in Salesstage 701 indicate that the customer has expedited the purchase process.In the preceding description, references to items 701 will be describedmore fully with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

Access to the sales opportunity module 101, the service tickettranslation module 901 a, the sales order translation module 901 b, theproject translation module 901 c, the service board 401, the sales ordermanagement module 103, and the project management module 612, as well ascommunication between the modules, may be through a network. The networkcan include a local-area network (LAN), such as a company Intranet, ametropolitan area network (MAN), or a wide area network (WAN), such asthe Internet or the World Wide Web. In some embodiments, there aremultiple networks between the devices and the servers. In one of theseembodiments, the network may be a public network, a private network, ormay include combinations of public and private networks.

The network may be any type or form of network and may include any ofthe following: a point-to-point network, a broadcast network, a widearea network, a local area network, a telecommunications network, a datacommunication network, a computer network, an ATM (Asynchronous TransferMode) network, a SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) network, a SDH(Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) network, a wireless network and awireline network. In some embodiments, the network may include awireless link, such as an infrared channel or satellite band. Thetopology of the network may include a bus, star, or ring networktopology. The network may include mobile telephone networks utilizingany protocol or protocols used to communicate among mobile devices,including advanced mobile phone protocol ("AMPS"), time divisionmultiple access ("TDMA"), code-division multiple access ("CDMA"), globalsystem for mobile communication ("GSM"), general packet radio services("GPRS") or universal mobile telecommunications system ("UMTS"). In someembodiments, different types of data may be transmitted via differentprotocols. In other embodiments, the same types of data may betransmitted via different protocols.

The sales opportunity module 101 and service ticket module 102 may beconfigured to run on one or more servers. The one or more servers do notneed to be physically proximate to each other or in the same machinefarm. Thus, the servers logically grouped as a machine farm may beinterconnected using a wide-area network (WAN) connection or ametropolitan-area network (MAN) connection. For example, a machine farmmay include servers physically located in different continents ordifferent regions of a continent, country, state, city, campus, or room.Data transmission speeds between servers in the machine farm can beincreased if the servers are connected using a local-area network (LAN)connection or some form of direct connection.

Management of the servers may be de-centralized. For example, one ormore servers may comprise components, subsystems and circuits to supportone or more management services. In one of these embodiments, one ormore servers provide functionality for management of dynamic data,including techniques for handling failover, data replication, andincreasing robustness. Each server may communicate with a persistentstore and, in some embodiments, with a dynamic store.

A server may include a file server, application server, web server,proxy server, appliance, network appliance, gateway, gateway, gatewayserver, virtualization server, deployment server, secure sockets layervirtual private network ("SSL VPN") server, or firewall. In oneembodiment, the server may be referred to as a remote machine or a node.In one embodiment, the server may be referred to as a cloud.

The system and its components, such as a sales opportunity module 101,service ticket module 102, and service ticket translation module 901 a,may include hardware elements, such as one or more processors, logicdevices, or circuits. For example, the system and its components mayinclude a bus or other communication component for communicatinginformation and a processor or processing circuit coupled to the bus forprocessing information. The hardware elements can also include one ormore processors or processing circuits coupled to the bus for processinginformation. The system also includes main memory, such as a randomaccess memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to the busfor storing information, and instructions to be executed by theprocessor. Main memory can also be used for storing positioninformation, temporary variables, or other intermediate informationduring execution of instructions by the processor. The system mayfurther include a read only memory (ROM) or other static storage devicecoupled to the bus for storing static information and instructions forthe processor. A storage device, such as a solid state device, magneticdisk or optical disk, can be coupled to the bus for persistently storinginformation and instructions.

The system and its components, such as the sales opportunity module, theservice ticket translation module, and the service ticket module, mayinclude, e.g., computing devices, desktop computers, laptop computers,notebook computers, mobile or portable computing devices, tabletcomputers, smartphones, personal digital assistants, or any othercomputing device.

According to various embodiments, the processes described herein can beimplemented by the system or hardware components in response to the oneor more processors executing an arrangement of instructions contained inmemory. Such instructions can be read into memory from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as a storage device. Execution of thearrangement of instructions contained in memory causes the system toperform the illustrative processes described herein. One or moreprocessors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed toexecute the instructions contained in memory. In alternativeembodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions to effect illustrativeembodiments. Thus, embodiments are not limited to any specificcombination of hardware circuitry and software. To provide forinteraction with a user, embodiments of the subject matter described inthis specification can be implemented on a computer having a displaydevice, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display)monitor, for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and apointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user canprovide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used toprovide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedbackprovided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visualfeedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from theuser can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactileinput.

FIGS. 2A - 2B are illustrative block diagrams of an embodiment of theinteraction between customers, sales, service, purchasing, engineering,and finance. FIG. 2A illustrates the interaction that may happen withoutthe use of a resource planning system. Customers 201 can interact withsales 202 to understand the product offerings and decide what isappropriate for the needs of the customers 201. Sales 202 cancommunicate these decisions and needs to purchasing 203, service 204,and engineering 205. Purchasing 203 can arrange for the procurement ofproducts 206 that are delivered to the customers 201, and can alsocommunicate the procurement to finance 207. Service 204 can work withcustomers 201 to provide installation, configuration, and maintenance ofthose products 206 at the customer site. Service 204 may need tocommunicate with purchasing 203 if additional products 206 are needed inorder to complete the work of service 204. Service 204 can alsocommunicate the service work to finance 207. Engineering 205 can workwith customers 201 to implement custom configurations and options, andto do any kind of special work required by customers 201. Engineering205 may need to communicate with purchasing 203 if additional products206 are needed in order to complete the work of engineering 205.Engineering 205 can also communicate the custom work to finance 207.Finance 207 can produce invoices 208 for customers 201 indicating thereasons and amount for which the customers 201 are being billed. Finance207 can also accept and process payments 209 from customers 201.

The communications and data storage associated with the interactionsillustrated in FIG. 2A may involve many different forms and may bedifficult to track. For example, sales 202 may talk with customers 201on the telephone and make handwritten notes about the needs of customers201. These may get transcribed into a spreadsheet that is sent topurchasing 203, and a separate email that is sent to service 204.Engineering 205 may not have convenient access to either the spreadsheetor email, which may result in some confusion and miscommunicationbetween engineering 205 and sales 202, engineering 205 and purchasing203, and engineering 205 and service 204. The result may be incorrect orbadly timed deliveries to customers 201, which may cause dissatisfactionby customers 201 or unnecessary expenses within the organization.

FIG. 2B illustrates the same types of interactions as those illustratedby FIG. 2A, but with the use of a resource planning system 210. The useof a resource planning system 210 may make the communications and datastorage in the process more uniform and easy to track. The resourceplanning system 210 can record the results of discussions between sales202 and customers 201, and can also record the specific customer needsthat arise. The resource planning system 210 can accept input from sales201 and can, as a result, update the data in the resource planningsystem 210 as the sales process proceeds. The resource planning system210 can also accept input from sales 202 when a sale is closed with acustomer 201 and can, as a result, update the data in the resourceplanning system 210 to reflect the fact that the sale is closed. Once asale is closed, the resource planning system 210 can supply informationto purchasing 203 that may facilitate the procurement of products 206associated with the sale, and also facilitate the delivery of thoseproducts 206 to the customer 201. The resource planning system 210 canaccept input from purchasing 206 and can, as a result, update the datain the resource planning system 210 as the purchasing and deliveryprocesses proceed. Similarly, once a sale is closed, and the products206 have been delivered to the customer 201, service 204 may need toplan and deliver, to the customer 201, the installation, configuration,and maintenance required by the sale. The resource planning system 210can accept input from service 204 and can, as a result, update the datain the resource planning system 210 as each step in the service processproceeds against the plan. Similarly, once a sale is closed, engineering205 may need to plan and deliver, to the customer 201, the customconfiguration and options required by the sale. The resource planningsystem 210 can accept input from engineering 205 and can, as a result,update the data in the resource planning system 210 as each step in theengineering process proceeds against the plan. During the entireprocess, the resource planning system 210 can supply information tofinance 207 that may facilitate delivering invoices 208 to customers201, in a timely fashion and based on products and services that thecustomers 201 have actually received from purchasing 203, service 204,and engineering 205. The resource planning system 210 can also acceptinput from finance 207 about payments 209 received from customers 201and can, as a result, update the data in the resource planning system210 with the status of payments 209 against invoices 208. During theentire process, the resource planning system 210 may provide bettervisibility of the sales process to sales 202, purchasing 203, service204, engineering 205, and finance 207, which may result in betterservice to customers 201. In addition, the resource planning system 210may provide better visibility of the processes within the organizationto the management of the organization (not shown in FIG. 2A or FIG. 2B).In this way, the management may be able to identify problems, improveefficiency, lower costs, and improve customer satisfaction.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of themanagement of sales opportunities and their handoff from sales toservice, purchasing, and engineering. A sales lead 301 can represent acontact that may or may not be interested in products and services.Sales leads 301 can come from multiple sources, for example, sales leadsmay be contacts from trade shows, contact information gathered usingonline search engines, or individuals who have contacted the company toask for more information. The sales leads 301 can go through a leadqualification process that evaluates their likelihood of becomingcustomers. The sales leads 301 that pass certain lead qualificationcriteria can be treated as sales opportunities 302 a. The sales staffcan then pursue the sales opportunities 302 a to try to close sales withthe sales opportunities 302 a. If the sales staff is not able to close asale for a sales opportunity 302 a, then the sales opportunity canbecome a lost opportunity 302 b. The lost opportunity 302 b may become asales lead 301 again, if the contact involved might be interested indifferent products or services, or if the contact might be interested ata later time. If the sales staff can close a sale for a salesopportunity 302 a, then the sales opportunity 302 a can become a wonopportunity 302 c. After closing a sale for a sales opportunity 302, thesales staff may need to provide information about the sales opportunity302 to service 204, purchasing 203, and engineering 205, in order toactually deliver the agreed-upon products and services described in thesales opportunity 302. The information for service 204 can be containedin service tickets 303, the information for purchasing 203 can becontained in sales orders 304, and the information for engineering 205can be contained in projects 305. To facilitate the handoff from salesto service 204, the process of converting a won sales opportunity 302 cto service tickets 303 may be partially or completely automated.Similarly, to facilitate the handoff from sales to purchasing 203, theprocess of converting a won sales opportunity 302 c to sales orders 304may be partially or completely automated. Similarly, to facilitate thehandoff from sales to engineering 205, the process of converting a wonsales opportunity 302 c to projects 305 may be partially or completelyautomated.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of the use ofservice tickets. Service tickets 303 can represent discrete work itemsof installation, configuration, and maintenance that need to becompleted by service technicians 408 for customers 201. The servicetickets 303 can be organized in a service board 401 to facilitate thecreation and update of service tickets 303 by service managers 402 andservice technicians 408. The service board 401 can accept input fromservice managers 402 or service technicians 408 and can, as a result,search, filter, organize, and display the service tickets 303. Theservice board 401 may be able to accept input from service managers 402and, as a result, generate reports 403 for the service managers 402,which may improve the visibility to the service managers 402 about whatis happening, and any problems that may be arising. The service board401 can accept input from service managers 402 and can, as a result,review 404, prioritize 405, assign 406, and schedule 407 service tickets303. Reviewing 404 a service ticket 303 can be the process of displayingall the components of the service ticket 303 to a service manager 402and accepting input from the service manager 402 about what action (ifany) should be taken relative to the service ticket 303. Prioritizing405 a service ticket 303 can be the process of displaying the serviceticket 303 to the service manager 402, relative to other service tickets303, and accepting input from the service manager 402 about the relativeimportance of the service ticket 303 given the availability of resourcesto address the service ticket 303. Assigning 406 a service ticket 303can be the process of accepting input from the service manager 402 aboutwhich service technician 408 should be responsible for completing thework described by the service ticket 303. Scheduling 407 a serviceticket 303 can be the process of accepting input from the servicemanager 402 about when the assigned service technician 408 shouldactually do the work described by the service ticket 303.

The service board 401 can accept input from service technicians 408 andcan, as a result, process 409, update 410, close 411, and escalate 412service tickets 303. Processing 409 a service ticket 303 can be theprocess of displaying information about the service ticket 303 to theservice technician 408, who may then use the information to guide workdone at the customer 201. Updating 410 a service ticket 303 can be theprocess of accepting input from a service technician 408 that includesadditional information about the service ticket 303, and then adding theinformation to the service ticket 303. For example, the additionalinformation might be about work that was not previously known, or theadditional information might be about a problem that came up during thework, or the additional information might be some information that couldbe helpful upon resuming work that was suspended for some reason.Closing 411 a service ticket 303 can be the process of accepting inputfrom a service technician 408 indicating that the work on a serviceticket 303 is completed, and then marking the service ticket 303 in sucha way to indicate its completion. Escalating 412 a service ticket 303can be the process of accepting input from a service technician 408indicating that the service ticket 303 cannot be completed for somereason, marking the service ticket 303 in such a way to indicate thatthe service ticket 303 cannot be completed, and generating an alert fora service manager 402 about the condition.

As described with respect to FIG. 4 , the service board 401 can useservice tickets 303 to facilitate the management of task-oriented workfor which the parameters and environment can change quickly. The serviceboard 401 can also facilitate the management of work that is notcompletely defined, in that service technicians 408 may discoverpreviously unknown constraints and conditions while working with thecustomer 201. The service board 401 can give the service technicians 408a convenient way to document issues and bring the issues to theattention of a service manager 402, and continue working on otherservice tickets 303 in the service board 401, using the priorities 405decided on by the service managers 402. As described above, theescalation 412 of a service ticket 303 may generate an alert for aservice manager 402, which may facilitate the service managers 402 inreacting quickly and focusing on and solving high priority problems. Asa result, the service board 401 can accept input from a service manager402 to assign 406 and schedule 407 the escalated service tickets 303 asneeded.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of the use ofsales orders. A sales order 304 can be generated as a result of sales202 working with customers 201 and closing a sale. The sales order 304can provide product information 501, shipping information 503, andpricing information 502 about the sale. The product information 501 maycontain information about non-service products 206 (hardware andsoftware) in the sale that must be procured and delivered to thecustomer 201. The shipping information 503 may contain information aboutinstructions and preferences that the customer 201 has regardingshipments. The pricing information 502 may contain information about thecost and sales price of non-service products 206 (hardware and software)as well as service products included in the sale, as well as pricingoffers and agreements that are specific to the customer 201. The productinformation 501 can be provided to purchasing 203 in order to procurethe products 206 from the vendors 505 that supply the products 206. Thevendors 505 may deliver the products 206 directly to the customer 201(which may be referred to as "drop-shipping") using the shippinginformation 503. The vendors may deliver the products 206 to shippingand receiving 504, and shipping and receiving 504 may deliver theproducts 206 to the customer 201 using the shipping information 503. Thepricing information 502 can be provided to finance 207, along with thecost information in the shipping information 503, to facilitate theprocess of finance 207 providing invoices 208 to the customer 201.Additionally, finance 207 may use information from purchasing 203 andshipping and receiving 504 in order to time the invoices 208 to matchactual delivery of products 206 to the customer 201.

FIG. 6 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of the use ofprojects. The project management module 612 can store projects 305, aswell as all the components 606 - 610 that make up projects 305. Notethat labels 606 a - 606 n are collectively referred to as 606, labels607 a - 607 j are collectively referred to as 607, labels 608 a - 608 iare collectively referred to as 608, labels 609 a - 609 i arecollectively referred to as 609, and labels 610 a - 610 i arecollectively referred to as 610. Projects 305 can represent a plan forcompleting work, and can represent a breakdown 603 of the work into aseries of tasks, each of which may have schedule estimates 604 for starttime and end time, and an assignment 605 to be completed by a specificengineer. The project management module 612 can accept input fromproject management 602, who may use the overall project specification601 for guidance, to facilitate the creation of a breakdown 603,schedule 604, and assignment 605 for the project 305. The breakdown 603can be the organization of the project 305 into phases 606, sub-phases607, and tasks 608. Phases 606 may be an organization of the project 305into large sequential sections that represent conceptual stages in theproject completion. For example, a software development project mighthave the three phases 606 of user-interface mockups, coding, andintegration. Sub-phases 607 may be useful for larger projects, and canrepresent a further organization of a phase 606 into sequential sectionsthat represent conceptual stages in the completion of the phase 606.Continuing the same example, the user-interface mockup phase 606 mighthave the three sub-phases 607 of data definition screens, data entryscreens, and data browsing screens. Although FIG. 6 shows only one setof sub-phases 607 a - 607 j making up phase 606 a, it should beunderstood that any phase 606, and any sub-phase 607, can be broken downfurther into sub-phases 607; there is no limit on how far the breakdowncan be taken. The project management module 612 can facilitatecontinuing the breakdown 603 by organizing phases 606 and sub-phases 607into tasks 608. Tasks 608 can represent work items that can be completedsequentially in order to complete a phase 606 or a sub-phase 607. Allphases 606 and sub-phases 607 may need to be broken down into tasks 608in order to complete the breakdown 603 of a project 305 into the workthat needs to be done in order to complete the project 305.

The project management module 612 can accept input from projectmanagement 602 to facilitate the creation of an assignment 605. Theassignment 605 can be the selection of an engineer 611 to work on eachtask 608 in the project 305. Note that labels 611 a - 611 i arecollectively referred to as 611. After the assignment 605 is completed,the project management module 612 can display to each engineer 611 atask list 609 with a list 610 of tasks that the engineer 611 may berequired to finish in order to complete the project 305. The projectmanagement module 612 can accept input from project management 602 tofacilitate the creation of a schedule 604. The schedule 604 can be theestimation of the amount of time needed to complete each task 608, alongwith a start time for each task 608 such that the duration of the task608 does not conflict with other tasks 608 assigned to the same engineer611, and so that the duration of the task 608 fits into the workschedule of the engineer. For example, the engineer may work from 9 AMto 5 PM on weekdays, so the durations scheduled for tasks 608 must fitinto those times. Once the breakdown 603, assignment 605, and scheduling604 are completed, the project management module 612 can display toengineers 611 the work plan defined by their task lists 609, and theengineers 611 can use the work plan to work with the customer 201 tocomplete the project 305.

Projects 305 in the project management module 612 may have similaritieswith service tickets 303 on a service board 401 in that both projectsand service tickets can be used for organizing and managing groups ofindividuals to complete work. Projects 305 may be better suited tolarger amounts of work that can be structured and estimatedsuccessfully. Service tickets 303 may be better suited to work that isless structured and has fewer inter-dependencies, and also work that ismore difficult to estimate because the work is affected by more unknownfactors.

FIGS. 7A - 7C are illustrative tables representing an embodiment of thedata in a sales opportunity. Each row 701 in the table can representinformation that is contained in a sales opportunity, or is referencedby a sales opportunity. For each row 701, the column 702 can represent adescription of the information, the column 703 can represent whether ornot the information may be converted to corresponding information inservice tickets 303, the column 704 can represent whether or not theinformation may be converted to corresponding information in salesorders 304, and the column 705 can represent whether or not theinformation may be converted to corresponding information in projects305. It should be understood that these labels apply to FIG. 7A, FIG.7B, and FIG. 7C, and also that 701 applies to every row in the table,even though the drawing does not label every row, in the interest ofclarity in the drawings. It should also be understood that theindentation of column 702 indicates a structural organization of theinformation, so that an indented row is contained within the previousun-indented row above the indented row. What now follows is adescription of every row 701 in the table of FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, and FIG.7C.

The ID can be an identifier that uniquely identifies the salesopportunity, which may be used as an internal reference number. The IDmay be generated automatically.

The Name can be the name of the sales opportunity, which may be selectedto facilitate remembering what the sales opportunity concerns. Forexample, the name may be set to "Managed service and server build".

The Contact information can be information for contacting the personrepresenting the customer in the sales opportunity. The Contactinformation may include name, address, phone number, email address, faxnumber, and so on. The Contact information may include more than onecontact for a customer.

The Next step can be one of the Activities within the sales opportunitythat is the next open activity that is connected with the salesopportunity.

The Close date can be an estimate of when the sales opportunity isexpected to be closed, in other words, when the sales opportunity 302 ais expected to change to a won opportunity 302 c.

The Age can be the amount of time that has passed since the salesopportunity was first created.

The Recurring can be the total amount of recurring revenue associatedwith the sales opportunity. The Recurring may be computed from the totalof all the agreement revenue in the sales opportunity. Any base revenueincluded as recurring revenue may not be added to the Recurring amount,but may instead be added to the Revenue amount described next.

The Revenue can be the total amount of revenue associated with the salesopportunity. The Won within Revenue may be the total amount of revenuefor products in the sales opportunity that have been won (the sale hasbeen closed). The Lost within Revenue may be the total amount of revenuefor products in the sales opportunity that will definitely not be sold.The Open within Revenue may be the total amount of revenue for productsin the sales opportunity that are not either won or lost. Revenue may becomputed by adding together Won, Lost, and Open.

The Margin can be the total margin associated with the salesopportunity. The Margin may be computed by summing the Margin withinProducts within Forecast (described later) for all of the Products thatare associated with the sales opportunity.

The Sales Stage can be a description of what stage of the sales processthe sales opportunity is in. For example, the Sales Stage may be one ofthe values "Lead", "2. Discovery", "Qualified", "Quoted", "Committed",or "Won".

The Probability can be the estimated likelihood of closing the overallsales opportunity (converting the sales opportunity 302 a to a wonopportunity 302 c). Probability may be expressed as a percentagelikelihood.

The Rating can be an indication of the urgency of pursuing the salesopportunity. For example, the Rating may be one of the values "Hot","Medium", or "Cold".

The Sales person can be an indication of the sales staff that iscurrently pursuing the sales opportunity. The Primary within Salesperson may be the sales person that is working with the customer, andthe Secondary within Sales person may be an inside sales person orbusiness development person that is also working on the salesopportunity.

The PO number can be an identifier associated with the purchase ordergenerated by the customer for the sale associated with the salesopportunity.

The Time can be the number of hours that have been entered againstActivities within the sales opportunity.

The Location can be used to describe location information for thecustomer associated with the sales opportunity. The Location may becustomizable to suit the needs of the sales organization.

The Business unit can be used to describe business unit information forthe customer associated with the sales opportunity. The Business unitmay be customizable to suit the needs of the sales organization.

The Group can be used to describe the group of the customer within theirorganization. The Group may be customizable to suit the needs of thesales organization.

The Campaign can be the marketing campaign associated with the salesopportunity. Marketing campaigns may be separate entities within theresource planning system that are used to plan, execute, and evaluatemarketing activities to promote goods and services.

The Description can be a longer description of the sales opportunitywith more detail than is contained in the Name. The Description may beuseful to quickly inform someone who is looking at the sales opportunityfor the first time.

The Type can be a way to categorize sales opportunities by the type ofservice or product being offered. For example, the Type may be one ofthe values "Managed Services", "Networking", or "Web Development".

The Status can be an indicator of the overall status of the salesopportunity. For example, the Status may be one of the values "Open","Closed", "Won", "Lost-Competitor", "Lost-Pricing", or "Lost-Financing".

The Source can be the source of the sales opportunity, when the salesopportunity is not associated with a marketing campaign.

The Quotes can be a collection of quotes that have been prepared for thecustomer in order to help win and finalize the sales opportunity. It maybe advantageous to treat quotes separately from Documents (describedbelow) because the data for Quotes can be derived from the Productsinformation (described below) in the sales opportunity.

The Notes can be a list of notes that are attached to the salesopportunity. These may be a set of unstructured, free-form notes thatcan be associated with the sales opportunity in order to keep track ofinformation that is relevant to the sales opportunity during itslifetime. For example, one note may describe a particular feature of aproduct that is extremely important to the customer, to highlight theneed for special care in providing that feature.

The Documents can be a collection of documents that are associated withthe sales opportunity. For example, a document may be a scanned drawingof a wiring diagram needed for the sales opportunity. As anotherexample, a document may be a presentation that was given to the customerin order to help win the sales opportunity.

The Name within Documents can be the title of the document.

The Filename within Documents can be the filename under which thedocument is stored.

The Private within Documents can indicate whether the document should beshared with customers, or whether the document should remain privatewithin the company. For example, a document about pricing options may bekept private and not shared with customers.

The Read-only within Documents can indicate whether or not the documentcan be changed by someone other than the Owner of the document. Forexample, a document containing notes about the physical layout of thebuilding of the customer may not be read-only, so that multipleengineers can update the document with information that the engineersfind. Continuing the example, a price list may be read-only, to avoidthe problems that could arise if a price were changed and thenincorrectly quoted to a customer.

The Owner within Documents can indicate who originally created thedocument. The Owner may also be changed to indicate that the ownershipof the document has been passed from the original creator to someoneelse.

The Updated within Documents can indicate the date and time at which thedocument was last updated. If the document has not been updated, theUpdated may indicate the date and time at which the document was firstcreated.

The Size within Documents can indicate the size of the document instorage (measured in bytes).

The Contacts can be a list of all contacts that are associated with thesales opportunity, including contacts that are not directly related tothe customer. The Contacts may be information for contacting the person,including name, address, phone number, email address, fax number, and soon. The Contacts may include contact information for more than oneperson.

The Activities can be a list of the activities that are associated withthe sales opportunity. Activities may be created, modified, and updatedseparately from sales opportunities, and may be connected to a salesopportunity.

The Status within Activities can be a description of the next step forthe activity. For example, the Status may be one of the values "Open","Do First", "1 – High", "2 – Medium", "3 – Low", "Closed", "Closed + newfollowup", or "In Progress".

The Due date within Activities can be the deadline by which the activityneeds to be completed.

The Contact within Activities can be information for contacting a personthat is associated with the activity. The Contact may include name,address, phone number, email address, fax number, and so on. The Contactmay include contact information for more than one person for theactivity.

The Time within Activities can be the total time that has been enteredagainst the activity. The Time may help to provide visibility on theamount of time spent on the activity.

The Expenses within Activities can be the total of all the expenses thathave been entered against the activity. The Expenses may help to providevisibility on the amount of money spent on the activity.

The Tracks can be a list of tracks that are associated with the salesopportunity. Tracks can be used to streamline operations. Tracks can beused to create and follow repeatable processes in an organization.Tracks may be used for sales, and may also be used for any process thatis repeated and completed in the same way every time. For example,tracks may be used for processes such as Client Onboarding, New EmployeeOnboarding, Prospect Process, Accounts Receivable/Credit Hold Process,Virtual CIO follow-up meetings/calls, or Project Quoting (hand off fromSales to Technician and back to Sales). Any process that has multiplesteps and hand-offs over a period of time may be converted to a track.

The Surveys can be a list of surveys, which can be a way to gatherimportant information about sales prospects and clients. Surveys can beused to put a process in place for gathering information. A survey canbe a list of questions to be answered. The questions may be used by thesalesperson as a guide to direct a conversation with a prospect orcustomer as part of the sales process. A different set of questions maybe used by a service technician to gather information about an onsitevisit as part of the service process. Surveys may help to buildaccountability and to document interactions with customers.

The Sales team can be a list of all internal team members assigned tothe sales opportunity. The sales team may include a responsible member,a team member, or a referral source. The sales team information mayinclude the percent for each member that is allocated for salescommissions. There may be a limit of only one responsible member.

The Forecast can represent predictions of the future financial result ofthe sales opportunity. The Forecast may be useful in predicting therevenue stream from sales, especially when combining the Forecast frommultiple sales opportunities that are in various stages of completion.

The Products within Forecast can be a list of products that are expectedto be associated with the sales opportunity. The Products may includeboth service and non-service (hardware and software) products.

The Product ID within Products within Forecast can be a short identifierthat uniquely identifies the product. For example, the Product ID may bethe Universal Product Code (UPC) of the product.

The Class within Products within Forecast can indicate the general classof the product. For example, the Class may be one of the values"Bundle", "Labor", "Inventory", "Non-inventory", or "Agreement".

The Description within Products within Forecast can be a shortdescription of the product. For example, the Description may have avalue of "HP EliteBook 8470" or "Managed Workstation".

The Quantity within Products within Forecast can be the quantity ofproduct that is being sold to the customer.

The Unit price within Products within Forecast can be the price chargedto the customer for the product. The price may be updated as part of theprocurement process. The price may be updated to reflect the actualprice charged to the customer once the product has been shipped.

The Extended price within Products within Forecast can be the entireprice charged to the customer for the line item of the product. TheExtended price may be computed as the Quantity times the Unit price. Theprice may be updated as part of the procurement process. The price maybe updated to reflect the actual price charged to the customer once theproduct has been shipped.

The Unit cost within Products within Forecast can be the cost for theproduct charged by the vendor. The cost may be updated as part of theprocurement process. The cost may be updated to reflect the actual costcharged by the vendor once the invoice from the vendor has beenreceived.

The Margin within Products within Forecast can be the margin fromselling the product. The Margin may be computed by subtracting Unit costwithin Products from Unit price within Products, and then multiplyingthe result by Quantity within Products.

The Billable within Products within Forecast can be the billable statusof the product. The Billable may indicate whether or not the productwill appear on invoices sent to customers.

The Invoice number within Products within Forecast can be theidentifying number of the invoice sent to the customer on which theproduct appears.

The Agreement within Products within Forecast can be the agreement thatis associated with the product. The Agreement may be a service agreementwith the customer for a recurring service product.

The Location within Products within Forecast can be the locationassociated with the customer that is acquiring the product.

The Group within Products within Forecast can be the business group ofthe customer that is acquiring the product.

The Taxable within Products within Forecast can indicate whether or notthe product is taxable. For example, if the product is being sold to acustomer who will re-sell the product to another entity, then theproduct may not be taxable.

The Drop-ship within Products within Forecast can indicate whether theproduct will be shipped directly from the vendor to the customer, orwhether the product will first be shipped from the vendor to thecompany, and then shipped from the company to the customer.

The Special order within Products within Forecast can indicate whetheror not the product is one that is not ordinarily handled by the vendor.The Special order may indicate that the product will require specialhandling or additional documentation.

The Status within Products within Forecast can indicate whether or notthe product has been invoiced. For example, the Status may be one of thevalues "Billed" or "Unbilled".

The Unit of measure within Products within Forecast can indicate whatunit is used for quoting the product. For example, the Unit of measuremay be one of the values "Feet", "Hours", "Month", "Each", "Spool", or"Case".

The Cancel within Products within Forecast can indicate informationabout a cancellation associated with the product. The Cancelled withinCancel within Products within Forecast can indicate whether the orderfor the product will be cancelled. Indicating a cancellation may removethe product from any invoice but not remove the product from the salesopportunity. The Quantity within Cancel within Products within Forecastmay indicate how much of the order is cancelled, for a partialcancellation. The Reason within Cancel within Products within Forecastmay indicate why the order was cancelled.

The Internal notes within Products within Forecast can be a list ofnotes about the product that are not intended for the customer to see.For example, one of the notes might be an indication that the salesstaff is willing to offer a lower price on a service agreement if thecustomer is willing to commit to a longer term on the agreement.

The Pick/ship within Products within Forecast can be information aboutthe delivery process for the product. The Pick/ship may be used byshipping and receiving 504 in order to make the deliveries.

The Warehouse within Pick/ship within Products within Forecast can bethe warehouse that the product will be shipped from.

The Bin within Pick/ship within Products within Forecast can be thewarehouse bin that the product will be shipped from.

The Shipping method within Pick/ship within Products within Forecast canbe the shipping method that will be used to deliver the product. Forexample, the Shipping method may have a value of "FedExTwoDay","FedExPriority", "FedExGround", "UPSNextDay", "UPSSecondDay","UPSGround", "CourierService", "USPSPriority", or "USPSExpress".

The Tracking number within Pick/ship within Products within Forecast canbe the tracking number for the product shipment, once the shipment hasbeen initiated.

The Picked quantity within Pick/ship within Products within Forecast canbe the quantity of the product that was removed from the warehouse. Thepicked quantity may be the same as the quantity of the product that wasordered, or the picked quantity may be different if the lot size of theproduct is not a multiple of the quantity ordered.

The Shipped quantity within Pick/ship within Products within Forecastcan be the quantity of the item that was shipped. The shipped quantitymay be the same as the quantity of the product that was ordered, or theshipped quantity may be different for a partial shipment.

The Serial number within Pick/ship within Products within Forecast canbe the serial number for the product to ship. If the product isserialized, the warehouse may be required to deliver the productassociated with the specified serial number.

The Inventory availability within Products within Forecast can beinformation about the product if the product is one that the companykeeps in inventory. The inventory availability may show what productsare in stock and where the products are available.

The Location within Inventory availability within Products withinForecast can be information about the location associated with thewarehouse that has inventory available for the product.

The Warehouse within Inventory availability within Products withinForecast can be information about the warehouse that has inventoryavailable for the product.

The Bin within Inventory availability within Products within Forecastcan be information about the warehouse bin that has inventory availablefor the product.

The On hand within Inventory availability within Products withinForecast can be the number of on hand inventory items available for theproduct.

The Picked within Inventory availability within Products within Forecastcan be the number of inventory items already removed from the warehousefor the product.

The Available within Inventory availability within Products withinForecast can be the number of inventory items available for the product.

The Purchase order within Products within Forecast can be informationabout the purchase order to the vendor by the company for the product.

The PO number within Purchase order within Products within Forecast canbe the identifying number of the purchase order.

The Vendor within Purchase order within Products within Forecast can bethe vendor selected for the purchase order.

The PO date within Purchase order within Products within Forecast can bedate that the purchase order was created.

The Status within Purchase order within Products within Forecast can bethe current status of the purchase order. For example, the Status mayhave a value of "Open" or "Received". The Status may be set to "Open"when the purchase order is created, and may be set to "Received" whenthe products in the purchase order are actually received from thevendor.

The Estimates within Forecast can be a list of estimated sources ofrevenue associated with the sales opportunity. An estimate can representa product, by having a Type with a value of "Product" as describedbelow, but that is not the same as being in the list of Products withinForecast. The Estimates within Forecast can allow a sales person toquickly enter an estimate for the sales opportunity, and then later fillin the actual products using Products within Forecast.

The Type within Estimates within Forecast can indicate what sort ofrevenue the estimated item represents. For example, the Type may have avalue of "Product", indicating that the estimated item is a non-serviceproduct, which may include hardware and software products. The Type mayhave a value of "Service", indicating that the estimated item is anon-recurring service product, such as the installation of a server. TheType may have a value of "Agreement", indicating that the estimated itemis a recurring service product that has a service agreement with thecustomer, such as the maintenance on a managed server. The Type may havea value of "Recurring", indicating that the estimated item is arecurring service product that does not have a service agreement withthe customer, such as anti-virus definition update that are provided bythe anti-virus software vendor for a fee. The Type may have a value of"Other", indicating that the estimated item is one that does not fallinto one of the other classes.

The Description within Estimates within Forecast can be a shortdescription of the estimated item. For example, the Description may havea value of "HP EliteBook 8470" or "Managed Workstation".

The Revenue within Estimates within Forecast can be the forecastedrevenue for the estimated item.

The Cost within Estimates within Forecast can be the forecasted costsassociated with the estimated item.

The Margin within Estimates within Forecast can be the forecasted marginachieved for the estimated item. The Margin may be the Revenue minus theCost within Estimates within Forecast for the estimated item.

The Probability within Estimates within Forecast can be the estimatedlikelihood of achieving the estimated item, expressed as a percentage.The Probability may be used to fine tune the expected revenue from thesales opportunity.

The Status within Estimates within Forecast can be the current status ofthe estimated item. For example, the Status may be one of the values"Open", "Closed", "Won", "Snoozed", "Lost-Competitor", "Lost-Pricing",or "Lost-Financing".

The Include within Estimates within Forecast can indicate whether or notto include the estimated item in computations of revenue estimates forthe forecast. The Include may indicate whether or not the estimated itemis included in the computation of Revenue within the sales opportunity.

FIG. 8 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of a system forconverting a sales opportunity to service tickets, sales orders, andprojects. The system can contain a sales opportunity 302, a serviceticket translation module 901 a, a sales order translation module 901 b,a project translation module 901 c, service tickets 303, sales orders304, and projects 305. The sales opportunity 302 can contain salesopportunity data 807, which can be a collection of the informationrepresented by 701 in FIGS. 7A - 7C. A service ticket translation module901 a can use a selection module 804 a to select some or all of thesales opportunity data 807 for conversion to service tickets 303. Notethat labels 804 a - 804 c are collectively referred to as 804. Theservice ticket translation module 901 a can then use a conversion module805 a to convert the selected data to the proper form for servicetickets 303, and can then use an update module 806 a to update theservice ticket data 808 within the service tickets 303 with informationfrom the sales opportunity data 807. Note that labels 805 a - 805 c arecollectively referred to as 805, and labels 806 a - 806 c arecollectively referred to as 806.

Similarly, a sales order translation module 901 b can use a selectionmodule 804 b to select some or all of the sales opportunity data 807 forconversion to sales orders 304. The sales order translation module 901 bcan then use a conversion module 805 b to convert the selected data tothe proper form for sales orders 304, and can then use an update module806 b to update the sales order data 809 within the sales orders 304with information from the sales opportunity data 807.

Similarly, a project translation module 901 c can use a selection module804 c to select some or all of the sales opportunity data 807 forconversion to projects 305. The project translation module 901 c canthen use a conversion module 805 c to convert the selected data to theproper form for projects 305, and can then use an update module 806 c toupdate the project data 810 within the projects 305 with informationfrom the sales opportunity data 807.

As described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, a sales opportunity 302 canhave quotes 801 a, notes 802 a, and documents 803 a associated with thesales opportunity 302. Note that labels 801 a - 801 d are collectivelyreferred to as 801, labels 802 a - 802 d are collectively referred to as802, and labels 803 a - 803 d are collectively referred to as 803. Whena sales opportunity 302 is converted to service tickets 303, all of theinformation associated with the sales opportunity may also need to beavailable from the service tickets 303, so that the service managers 402and service technicians 408 can have as much information as possible todecide on the best way to manage and process the service tickets 303. Tofacilitate the availability of the information, the conversion of asales opportunity 302 to service tickets 303 can include copying thequotes 801 a associated with the sales opportunity 302 into quotes 801 bassociated with the service tickets 303, copying the notes 802 aassociated with the sales opportunity 302 into notes 802 b associatedwith the service tickets 303, and copying the documents 803 a associatedwith the sales opportunity 302 into documents 803 b associated with theservice tickets 303. Similarly, when a sales opportunity 302 isconverted to sales orders 304, all of the information associated withthe sales opportunity may also need to be available from the salesorders 304, so that purchasing 203, shipping and receiving 504, andfinance 207 can have as much information as possible to decide on thebest way to manage and process the sales orders 304. To facilitate theavailability of the information, the conversion of a sales opportunity302 to sales orders 304 can include copying the quotes 801 a associatedwith the sales opportunity 302 into quotes 801 c associated with thesales orders 304, copying the notes 802 a associated with the salesopportunity 302 into notes 802 c associated with the sales orders 304,and copying the documents 803 a associated with the sales opportunity302 into documents 803 c associated with the sales orders 304.Similarly, when a sales opportunity 302 is converted to projects 305,all of the information associated with the sales opportunity may alsoneed to be available from the projects 305, so that project management602 and engineers 611 can have as much information as possible to decideon the best way to manage and implement the projects 305. To facilitatethe availability of the information, the conversion of a salesopportunity 302 to projects 305 can include copying the quotes 801 aassociated with the sales opportunity 302 into quotes 801 d associatedwith the projects 305, copying the notes 802 a associated with the salesopportunity 302 into notes 802 d associated with the projects 305, andcopying the documents 803 a associated with the sales opportunity 302into documents 803 d associated with the projects 305.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative block diagram of an embodiment of updating asales opportunity. An update module 902 may accept input from sales 202and, as a result, change a sales opportunity 302 that has already beenconverted by the service ticket translation 901 a into service tickets303. The service tickets 303 may need to be changed to reflect thechanges in the sales opportunity 302, so that the service managers 402and service technicians 408 can be aware of the changes that have beenmade in the sales opportunity 302. To facilitate the change, the updatemodule 902 can generate change data 903 that represents the changes madeto the sales opportunity 302, and the service ticket translation module901 a can process the change data 903 to make the same changes to theservice tickets 303. Similarly, the sales orders 304 may need to bechanged to reflect the changes in the sales opportunity 302, so thatpurchasing 203, shipping and receiving 504, and finance 207 can be awareof the changes that have been made in the sales opportunity 302. Tofacilitate the change, the update module 902 can generate change data903 that represents the changes made to the sales opportunity 302, andthe sales order translation module 901 b can process the change data 903to make the same changes to the sales orders 304. Similarly, theprojects 305 may need to be changed to reflect the changes in the salesopportunity 302, so that project management 602 and engineers 611 can beaware of the changes that have been made in the sales opportunity 302.To facilitate the change, the update module 902 can generate change data903 that represents the changes made to the sales opportunity 302, andthe project translation module 901 c can process the change data 903 tomake the same changes to the projects 305.

FIG. 10 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating a sales opportunity. The interface canidentify 1002 the sales opportunity and include its referenceidentifier, corresponding to ID for the sales opportunity as describedwith respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C. The interface can present a number offields, tabs, columns, rows, and controls 1001 - 1054 that can be viewedand modified to manage the creation and update of the sales opportunity.

The Summary field 1001 can correspond to Name for the sales opportunityas described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Next Step field 1003 can correspond to Next step for the salesopportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Type field 1004 can correspond to Type for the sales opportunity asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Status field 1005 can correspond to Status for the sales opportunityas described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Source field 1006 can correspond to Source for the sales opportunityas described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Campaign field 1007 can correspond to Campaign for the salesopportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Enter Description field 1008 can correspond to Description for thesales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Sales Exec field 1009 can correspond to Primary within Sales personfor the sales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Biz Dev field 1010 can correspond to Secondary within Sales personfor the sales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Close Date field 1011 can correspond to Close date for the salesopportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Stage field 1012 can correspond to Sales Stage for the salesopportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Probability field 1013 can correspond to Probability for the salesopportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Rating field 1014 can correspond to Rating for the sales opportunityas described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Age field 1015 can correspond to Age for the sales opportunity asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The PO# field 1016 can correspond to PO number for the sales opportunityas described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Revenue field 1017 can correspond to Revenue for the salesopportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Margin field 1018 can correspond to Margin for the sales opportunityas described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Won field 1019 can correspond to Won within Revenue for the salesopportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Lost field 1020 can correspond to Lost within Revenue for the salesopportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Company, Contact, Phone pulldown (shown as "Office"), Site Name, andAddress fields indicated by 1021 can correspond to Contact informationfor the sales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Division field 1022 can correspond to Location for the salesopportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Business Unit field 1023 can correspond to Business unit for thesales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The lower section of the interface in FIG. 10 is a tabbed interface inwhich the end user can select a tab 1024 – 1031 to display and modifyinformation in the sales opportunity.

The Forecast tab 1024 can display, edit, and print the revenueforecasted for the sales opportunity. The forecast may be updated usinga quoting tool.

The Notes tab 1025 can display, edit, and create notes that areassociated with the sales opportunity. Notes were previously describedwith respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Activities tab 1026 can display, edit, and create activities thatare associated with the sales opportunity. Activities were previouslydescribed with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Contacts tab 1027 can display, edit, and create contacts that areassociated with the sales opportunity. Contacts were previouslydescribed with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Tracks tab 1028 can display, edit, and create tracks that areassociated with the sales opportunity. Tracks may automatically be addedto a sales opportunity based on the marketing campaign selected for thesales opportunity. Tracks were previously described with respect toFIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Team tab 1029 can display internal team members assigned to thesales opportunity. Each team member may be identified as being aresponsible member or a referral source. Each team member may also beallocated a percentage for sales commissions. There may be a restrictionthat only one team member can be marked as the responsible member forthe sales opportunity.

The Surveys tab 1030 can display, edit, and create surveys that areassociated with the sales opportunity. Surveys were previously describedwith respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Documents tab 1031 can display, delete, upload, create a link for,and download documents that are associated with the sales opportunity.Documents can be quickly uploaded by dragging and dropping a document onthe local device into the white space of the Documents tab 1031.Documents were previously described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The lower section of the interface in FIG. 10 shows the Forecast tab1024 selected. The display has three sections: a set of controls 1032 –1035 for managing the forecast, display elements 1036 – 1052 associatedwith products and estimates in the forecast, and display elements 1053 –1054 associated with estimates not included in the forecast.

The forecast can include both products 1036 – 1044 and estimates 1045 –1051. The products 1036 – 1044 may be specific products that are knownto be likely to be required for the sales opportunity. The detaillisting of these products may make revenue estimates for the salesopportunity more accurate, and may allow generating detailed quotes forthe customer. The estimates 1045 – 1051 may allow earlier and somewhatless accurate revenue estimates for the sales opportunity before theactual products are detailed.

Control 1032 can allow adding a new product to the forecast. Control1033 can allow adding a new estimate to the forecast. Control 1034 canupdate the display to incorporate any changes that have been made sincethe last display operation. Control 1035 can print the display in aprinter-friendly format.

The products in the forecast for the sales opportunity can be listed oneper line 1042 –1044. A line 1044 can contain a single product, or a line1042 can contain a bundle, which can contain products within the bundlethat are shown on a line 1043. It should be understood that bundles canalso contain other bundles, even though this is not illustrated in FIG.10 .

For each product line 1042 – 1044, columns 1036 – 1041 can showinformation about the product. The information that appears in theQuantity column 1036 can correspond to Quantity within Products withinForecast for the product in the sales opportunity as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C. The information that appears in the Product IDcolumn 1037 can correspond to Product ID within Products within Forecastfor the product in the sales opportunity as described with respect toFIGS. 7A - 7C. The information that appears in the Product Descriptioncolumn 1038 can correspond to Description within Products withinForecast for the product in the sales opportunity as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C. The information that appears in the Margincolumn 1039 can correspond to Margin within Products within Forecast forthe product in the sales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS.7A - 7C. The information that appears in the Cost column 1040 cancorrespond to Quantity times Unit cost within Products within Forecastfor the product in the sales opportunity as described with respect toFIGS. 7A - 7C. The information that appears in the Revenue column 1041can correspond to Extended price within Products within Forecast for theproduct in the sales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A -7C.

For each estimate line 1049 – 1052, columns 1045 – 1047 and 1039 – 1041can show information about the estimate. The information that appears inthe Include column 1045 can correspond to Include within Estimateswithin Forecast for the estimate in the sales opportunity as describedwith respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C. The information that appears in theEstimate Type column 1046 can correspond to Type within Estimates withinForecast for the estimate in the sales opportunity as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C. The information that appears in the EstimateDescription column 1047 can correspond to Description within Estimateswithin Forecast for the estimate in the sales opportunity as describedwith respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C. The information that appears in theMargin column 1039 can correspond to Margin within Estimates withinForecast for the estimate in the sales opportunity as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C. The information that appears in the Costcolumn 1040 can correspond to Cost within Estimates within Forecast forthe estimate in the sales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS.7A - 7C. The information that appears in the Revenue column 1041 cancorrespond to Revenue within Estimates within Forecast for the estimatein the sales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Totals line 1052 can be a sum of the values for all products andestimates in columns 1039 – 1041.

The Estimates not Included in Forecast section 1053 can be composed thesame way as the estimates section, with lines 1054 in the Estimates notIncluded in Forecast section corresponding to lines 1048 – 1051 for theestimates, with the exception that Include is not set for theseestimates. The Estimates not Included in Forecast section may provide away for the sales staff to make a record of estimated items for which adecision is being postponed.

FIG. 11 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the notes associated with a sales opportunity. The uppersection of the interface in FIG. 11 is similar to the upper section ofthe interface in FIG. 10 , and therefore a detailed description is notrepeated here. The lower section of the interface in FIG. 11 shows theNotes tab 1025 selected. The control 1101 can be selected to add a newnote to the sales opportunity. The header 1102 indicates that the notesassociated with the sales opportunity are being displayed. The notes aredisplayed in the text control 1103, where the notes can also be editedto add, update, or delete notes.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the documents associated with a sales opportunity. Theinterface is a tabbed display with tabs 1201 – 1203 that can controlwhat information is displayed.

The Order tab 1201 can display the sales order generated from the salesopportunity.

The Products tab 1202 can display a list of products associated with thesales opportunity.

The Documents tab 1203, which is shown selected in FIG. 12 , can displaya list of documents associated with the sales opportunity. A line 1204can represent a single document associated with the sales opportunity.Within the line 1204, the columns 1205 – 1210 can represent informationabout the product.

The Link column 1205 can present a link to view the document online inthe browser.

The Type column 1206 can display an icon that represents the type of thedocument, such as a text file, Microsoft Word document, Adobe PDFdocument, and so on. The type of the document may be determined usingpart of Filename within Documents for the sales opportunity as describedwith respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Title column 1207 can correspond to Name within Documents for thesales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Filename column 1208 can correspond to Filename within Documents forthe sales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Last Update column 1209 can correspond to Updated within Documentsfor the sales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Owner column 1210 can correspond to Owner within Documents for thesales opportunity as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

FIGS. 13A - 13E are illustrative examples of an embodiment of a userinterface for converting a sales opportunity to one or more servicetickets, converting a sales opportunity to one or more sales orders, andconverting a sales opportunity to one or more projects. The userinterface is shown as a "wizard" with five steps illustrated in FIG.13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 13C, FIG. 13D, and FIG. 13E.

FIG. 13A is an illustrative example of an embodiment of the first stepof a wizard for converting a sales opportunity to one or more servicetickets, converting a sales opportunity to one or more sales orders, andconverting a sales opportunity to one or more projects. The Convertcontrol 1301 can invoke the wizard and start the process. The header1302 can indicate that the first step of the wizard is to select thetype of conversion. Option 1303 can allow the selection of convertingthe sales opportunity to one or more sales orders. Option 1304 can allowthe selection of converting the sales opportunity to one or more servicetickets. Option 1305 can allow the selection of converting the salesopportunity to one or more projects. The Cancel control 1306 can allowcancelling the process without taking any action. The Next control 1307can proceed to the next step of the wizard as illustrated by FIG. 13B.

FIG. 13B is an illustrative example of an embodiment of the second stepof a wizard for converting a sales opportunity to one or more servicetickets, converting a sales opportunity to one or more sales orders, andconverting a sales opportunity to one or more projects. The header 1308can indicate that the second step of the wizard is to select whether theconversion will create a new set of outputs or update an existing set.By way of example, FIG. 13B shows the header for a conversion to one ormore projects which may have been selected using option 1305 in FIG.13A. It should be understood that a similar display can be shown forconversion to one or more sales orders, or conversion to one or moreservice tickets. Option 1309 can allow the selection of creating newprojects from the sales opportunity. Option 1310 can allow the selectionof updating existing projects from the sales opportunity. Selectioncontrol 1311 can allow the selection of the existing projects if option1310 is selected. The Back control 1312 can allow returning to theprevious step of the wizard as illustrated in FIG. 13A. The Next control1313 can proceed to the next step of the wizard as illustrated by FIG.13C.

FIG. 13C is an illustrative example of an embodiment of the third stepof a wizard for converting a sales opportunity to one or more servicetickets, converting a sales opportunity to one or more sales orders, andconverting a sales opportunity to one or more projects. The header 1314can indicate that the third step of the wizard is to select which notesin the sales opportunity will be included in the conversion. Notes werepreviously described in more detail with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C. Thenotes in the sales opportunity can be listed one per line 1319. Eachline can have columns 1315 – 1318 that may help identify the notes. Theinformation in the Type column 1315 can represent what type ofinformation the note represents. For example, the Type column 1315 canhave a value of "Comment" or "Technical". The information in the Summarycolumn 1316 can represent the text of the note or an abbreviated versionof that text. The information in the Last Update column 1317 canrepresent the most recent date and time when the note was updated. Theinformation in the Owner column 1318 can represent the person whocreated the note. Each note can have a selection control 1320 thatindicates whether or not the note will be included in the conversion.The selection controls 1320 may all be initially selected by default,indicating that all notes will be included in the conversion by default.The Back control 1321 can allow returning to the previous step of thewizard as illustrated in FIG. 13B. The Next control 1322 can proceed tothe next step of the wizard as illustrated by FIG. 13D.

FIG. 13D is an illustrative example of an embodiment of the fourth stepof a wizard for converting a sales opportunity to one or more servicetickets, converting a sales opportunity to one or more sales orders, andconverting a sales opportunity to one or more projects. The header 1323can indicate that the fourth step of the wizard is to select whichdocuments in the sales opportunity will be included in the conversion.Documents were previously described in more detail with respect to FIGS.7A - 7C. The documents in the sales opportunity can be listed one perline 1329. Each line can have columns 1324 – 1328 that may help identifythe documents. The information in the Type column 1324 can representwhat type of information the document represents. The information in theTitle column 1325 can represent the title of the document and maycorrespond to Name within Documents with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C forthe sales opportunity. The information in the Filename column 1326 canrepresent the filename of the document and may correspond to Filenamewithin Documents with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C for the salesopportunity. The information in the Last Update column 1327 canrepresent the most recent date and time when the document was updatedand may correspond to Updated within Documents with respect to FIGS.7A - 7C for the sales opportunity. The information in the Owner column1328 can represent the person who created the document and maycorrespond to Owner within Documents with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C forthe sales opportunity. Each document can have a selection control 1330that indicates whether or not the document will be included in theconversion. The selection controls 1330 may all be initially selected bydefault, indicating that all documents will be included in theconversion by default. The Back control 1331 can allow returning to theprevious step of the wizard as illustrated in FIG. 13C. The Next control1332 can proceed to the next step of the wizard as illustrated by FIG.13E.

FIG. 13E is an illustrative example of an embodiment of the fifth stepof a wizard for converting a sales opportunity to one or more servicetickets, converting a sales opportunity to one or more sales orders, andconverting a sales opportunity to one or more projects. The header 1333can indicate that the fifth step of the wizard is to select whichproducts in the sales opportunity will be included in the conversion.Products were previously described in more detail with respect to FIGS.7A - 7C. The products in the sales opportunity can be listed one perline 1342, 1343, and 1344. A product bundle may be listed on a line1342, and the products within the bundle may be listed on lines 1343under the bundle. Similarly, a product may be listed by itself on a line1344. Each line can have columns 1334 – 1341 that may help identify theproducts. The information in the Sequence column 1334 can represent theorder in which the products are listed in quotes and invoices that aresent to customers. The information in the Product column 1335 canrepresent the identification of the product and may correspond toProduct ID within Products within Forecast with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7Cfor the sales opportunity. The information in the Description column1336 can represent a descriptive name for the product and may correspondto Description within Products within Forecast with respect to FIGS.7A - 7C for the sales opportunity. The information in the Qty column1337 can represent the quantity of the product and may correspond toQuantity within Products within Forecast with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7Cfor the sales opportunity. The information in the Price column 1338 canrepresent the price of the product for the customer and may correspondto Unit price within Products within Forecast with respect to FIGS. 7A -7C for the sales opportunity. The information in the Cost column 1339can represent the cost of the product from the vendor and may correspondto Unit cost within Products within Forecast with respect to FIGS. 7A -7C for the sales opportunity. The information in the Bill column 1340can represent whether or not the product is billed to the customer andmay correspond to Billable within Products within Forecast with respectto FIGS. 7A - 7C for the sales opportunity. The information in theProduct class column 1341 can represent the general class of the productand may correspond to Class within Products within Forecast with respectto FIGS. 7A - 7C for the sales opportunity. Each product can have aselection control 1345 that indicates whether or not the product will beincluded in the conversion. The selection controls 1345 may all beinitially selected by default, indicating that all products will beincluded in the conversion by default. The Back control 1346 can allowreturning to the previous step of the wizard as illustrated in FIG. 13D.The Finish control 1347 can complete the wizard and proceed with theconversion process.

FIG. 14 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing a quote created from a sales opportunity. The quote can becreated in the main interface 1401 where the quote can be saved,printed, emailed, faxed, and so on. The quote may contain customercontact information 1402 and a list 1403 of products in the salesopportunity. The list 1403 can contain a line 1404 for each product inthe sales opportunity. The line 1404 can contain columns 1405 – 1408with information about the product.

The Quantity column 1405 can correspond to Quantity within Productswithin Forecast for the sales opportunity as described with respect toFIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Description column 1406 can correspond to Description withinProducts within Forecast for the sales opportunity as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Unit Price column 1407 can correspond to Unit price within Productswithin Forecast for the sales opportunity as described with respect toFIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Ext Price Column 1408 can correspond to Extended price withinProducts within Forecast for the sales opportunity as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

FIG. 15 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating a service ticket. The interface can show theservice ticket number and name of the service ticket 1501. The interfaceis a tabbed display with tabs 1502 – 1510 that can select whichinformation is displayed by the interface.

The Ticket tab 1502 can select a display of basic information about theservice ticket.

The Tasks tab 1503 can select a display of all the tasks that areassociated with the service ticket.

The Configurations tab 1504 can select a display of all theconfigurations that are associated with the service ticket.

The Products tab 1505 can select a display of all the products that areassociated with the service ticket.

The Activities tab 1506 can select a display of all the activities thatare associated with the service ticket.

The Time tab 1507 can select a display of all the times that have beenentered against activities that are associated with the service ticket.

The Expenses tab 1508 can select a display of all the expenses that havebeen entered against activities that are associated with the serviceticket.

The Schedule tab 1509 can select a display of the tasks associated withthe service ticket and when the tasks are expected to be completed.

The Documents tab 1510 can select a display of all the documents thatare associated with the service ticket.

The interface in FIG. 15 shows the Ticket tab 1502 selected, with theresult that fields 1511 - 1540 can be available for displaying andediting information associated with the service ticket.

The Company, Contact, Phone, Email, Site Name, Address, City, State,Zip, and Country fields indicated by 1511 can represent the contactinformation associated with the service ticket. The Company, Contact,Phone, Email, Site Name, Address, City, State, Zip, and Country fieldsmay be converted from Contact information, as described with respect toFIGS. 7A - 7C, within the sales opportunity that was converted into theservice ticket.

The Agreement field 1512 can represent the agreement that covers theservice ticket. The Agreement field may be converted from Agreementwithin Products within Forecast, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A -7C, within the sales opportunity that was converted into the serviceticket.

The Opportunity field 1513 can represent the sales opportunityassociated with the service ticket. The Opportunity field may be thesales opportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Required Date field 1514 can represent the date by which the serviceticket must be completed. The Required Date field may be converted fromDue date within Activities, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C,within the sales opportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The SLA field 1515 can represent the service level agreement (SLA) thatis applied to the service ticket. The SLA field may be converted fromAgreement within Products within Forecast, as described with respect toFIGS. 7A - 7C, within the sales opportunity that was converted into theservice ticket.

The Service Board field 1516 can represent the service board on whichthe service ticket is displayed.

The Status field 1517 can represent the status of the service ticket.For example, the Status field may be one of the values "New","Scheduled", "Closed", or "Completed".

The Service Type field 1518 can represent the type of service beingperformed for the service ticket. The Service Type field may beconverted from Type, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, withinthe sales opportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Service Sub Type field 1519 can represent a further categorizationof the type of service being performed for the service ticket. TheService Sub Type field may be converted from Type, as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within the sales opportunity that wasconverted into the service ticket.

The Service Item field 1520 can represent a still further categorizationof the type of service being performed for the service ticket. TheService Item field categorization may be used to create task lists forcommon services and associate the task lists with service tickets, whichmay allow the creation of a standard template to associate with servicetickets. The information in the Service Item field 1520 may be convertedfrom Type, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within the salesopportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Source field 1521 can represent the original source of the serviceticket. The Source field may be converted from Source, as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within the sales opportunity that wasconverted into the service ticket.

The Where field 1522 can represent the location where the service isperformed for the service ticket. The Where field may be converted fromLocation, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within the salesopportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Team field 1523 can represent the group of people that will work onthe service ticket.

The Severity field 1524 can represent the severity level of (how manypeople are affected by) the service ticket. The Severity field may beconverted from Rating, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C,within the sales opportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Impact field 1525 can represent the impact of (how much businessprocesses are affected by) the service ticket. The Impact field may beconverted from Rating, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C,within the sales opportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Priority field 1526 can represent the priority of the serviceticket. The Priority field may be converted from Rating, as describedwith respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within the sales opportunity that wasconverted into the service ticket.

The Actual Hours field 1527 can represent the amount of time that hascurrently been entered against the service ticket.

The Budget Hours field 1529 can represent the amount of time budgetedfor the service ticket.

The Remaining field 1528 can represent the Budget Hours 1529 minus theActual Hours 1527.

The Summary field 1530 can represent a short summary of the serviceticket. The Summary field may be converted from Name, as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within the sales opportunity that wasconverted into the service ticket.

The Detail Description field 1531 can represent additional informationabout the service ticket. The Detail Description field may be convertedfrom Description, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within thesales opportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Internal Analysis field 1532 can represent notes that are notintended to be shared with the customer for the service ticket.

The Assigned By field 1533 can represent the individual that decided whowill work on the service ticket.

The Notify field 1534 can represent whether or not to notify theindividual in the Assigned By field 1533 when changes are made to theservice ticket.

The Entered By field 1535 can represent the individual that created theservice ticket. The Entered By field may be converted from Primarywithin Sales Person, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, withinthe sales opportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Notify field 1536 can represent whether or not to notify theindividual in the Entered By field 1534 when changes are made to theservice ticket.

The Closed By field 1537 can represent the individual that closed theservice ticket. The Closed By field may be the individual who solved theproblem.

The Account Manager field 1538 can represent the individual that isresponsible for communicating with the customer about the serviceticket.

The Account Technician field 1539 can represent the individual that isresponsible for doing the work for the service ticket.

The Automatic Email Options 1540 can determine who receives email whenchanges are made to the service ticket.

FIG. 16 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the products associated with a service ticket. Theinterface can show the service ticket number and name of the serviceticket 1501. The interface in FIG. 16 shows the Products tab 1505selected. The interface can contain a line 1601 for each product in thesales opportunity. The line 1601 can contain columns 1602 – 1610 withinformation about the product.

The Drop-ship column 1602 can indicate whether the product will beshipped directly from the vendor to the customer, or whether the productwill first be shipped from the vendor to the company, and then shippedfrom the company to the customer. The Drop-ship column may be convertedfrom Drop-ship within Products within Forecast, as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the product on theline 1601 within thesales opportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Cancelled column 1603 can indicate whether the order for the productwill be cancelled. Indicating a cancellation may remove the product fromany invoice but not remove the product from the service ticket. TheCancelled column may be converted from Cancelled within Cancel withinProducts within Forecast, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C,for the product on theline 1601 within the sales opportunity that wasconverted into the service ticket.

The Special order column 1604 can indicate whether or not the product isone that is not ordinarily handled by the vendor. The Special ordercolumn may indicate that the product will require special handling oradditional documentation. This may be converted from Special orderwithin Products within Forecast, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A -7C, for the product on the line 1601 within the sales opportunity thatwas converted into the service ticket.

The Product ID column 1605 can be an identifier that uniquely identifiesthe product. For example, the Product ID column may be the UniversalProduct Code (UPC) of the product. The Product ID column may beconverted from Product ID within Products within Forecast, as describedwith respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the product on the line 1601 withinthe sales opportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Bill column 1606 can be the billable status of the product. The Billcolumn may indicate whether or not the product will appear on invoicessent to customers. The letter "B" in the Bill column may indicate thatthe product is billable, i.e. the product will appear on invoices sentto customers. The Bill column may be converted from Billable withinProducts within Forecast, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C,for the product on the line 1601 within the sales opportunity that wasconverted into the service ticket.

The Quantity column 1607 can be the quantity of product that is beingsold to the customer. The Quantity column may be converted from Quantitywithin Products within Forecast, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A -7C, for the product on the line 1601 within the sales opportunity thatwas converted into the service ticket.

The Unit price column 1608 can be the price charged to the customer forthe product. The price may be updated as part of the procurementprocess. The price may be updated to reflect the actual price charged tothe customer once the product has been shipped. The Unit price columnmay be converted from Unit price within Products within Forecast, asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the product on the line1601 within the sales opportunity that was converted into the serviceticket.

The Extended price column 1609 can be the entire price charged to thecustomer for the line item of the product. The Extended price column maybe computed as the Quantity times the Unit price. The price may beupdated as part of the procurement process. The price may be updated toreflect the actual price charged to the customer once the product hasbeen shipped. The Extended price column may be converted from Extendedprice within Products within Forecast, as described with respect toFIGS. 7A - 7C, for the product on the line 1601 within the salesopportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Unit cost column 1610 can be the cost for the product charged by thevendor. The cost may be updated as part of the procurement process. Thecost may be updated to reflect the actual cost charged by the vendoronce the invoice from the vendor has been received. The Unit cost columnmay be converted from Unit cost within Products within Forecast, asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the product on the line1601 within the sales opportunity that was converted into the serviceticket.

FIG. 17 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the financial aspects of a service ticket. The interfacecan show the service ticket number and name of the service ticket 1501.The interface in FIG. 17 shows the Finance tab 1701 selected, with theresult that fields 1702 – 1715 can be available for displaying andediting finance information associated with the service ticket.Additionally, the Financial Recap section 1716 can provide a summary offinancial information.

The Work Role field 1702 can be used to set the billing rates chargedfor completing the work on the service ticket, based on the level of theindividual that will need to work on the service ticket. For example,the Work Role field may be one of the values "Project Manager","Engineer", "Consultant", "Admin", or "Sales".

The Work Type field 1703 can be used to modify the billing rates chargedfor completing the work on the service ticket, based on specialcircumstances about the work being done. For example, the Work Typefield may be one of the values "Normal", "Overtime", "On call","Emergency", or "Discounted".

The Bill Time field 1704 can indicate how time spent on completing theservice ticket should be billed to the customer. For example, the BillTime field may be one of the values "Billable" (time accrued is billableto the customer), "Do Not Bill" (time accrued is not billable to thecustomer, and does not appear on an invoice), or "No Charge" (timeaccrued is not billable to the customer, but appears on the invoice as azero charge).

The Bill Expenses field 1705 can indicate how expenses charged againstthe completion of the service ticket should be billed to the customer.For example, the Bill Expenses field may be one of the values "Billable"(expenses are billable to the customer), "Do Not Bill" (expenses are notbillable to the customer, and do not appear on an invoice), or "NoCharge" (expenses are not billable to the customer, but appear on theinvoice as a zero charge).

The Bill Products field 1706 can indicate how products used during thecompletion of the service ticket should be billed to the customer. Forexample, the Bill Products field may be one of the values "Billable"(products are billable to the customer), "Do Not Bill" (products are notbillable to the customer, and do not appear on an invoice), or "NoCharge" (products are not billable to the customer, but appear on theinvoice as a zero charge). The Bill Products field may be converted fromBillable within Products within Forecast, as described with respect toFIGS. 7A - 7C, within the sales opportunity that was converted into theservice ticket.

The Method field 1707 can be used to set the way in which the serviceticket is billed to the customer. For example, the Method field may beone of the values "Actual Rate", "Fixed Fee", "Not to Exceed", or"Override Rate". If the Method field 1707 is set to "Override Rate",then the Billing Amount field 1708 may be used to set an hourly rate forthe service ticket.

The PO Number field 1709 can be used to identify a purchase order forthe billing of the service ticket. The PO Number field may be convertedfrom PO number, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within thesales opportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Reference field 1710 can be used to indicate additional arbitraryinformation for the service ticket that may print on the invoice if theservice ticket is billed separately.

The Estimated Revenue field 1711 can represent a forecast of the amountof revenue expected to come from the work on the service ticket. TheEstimated Revenue field may be converted from Revenue within Estimateswithin Forecast, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within thesales opportunity that was converted into the service ticket.

The Bill this ticket separately field 1712 can indicate whether or notto bill the service ticket separately from other service tickets for thecustomer.

The Bill this ticket only after it has been closed field 1713 canindicate whether or not to bill the service ticket only after the Status1517 of the service ticket, as described with respect to FIG. 15 , hasbeen set to "Closed".

The Bill unapproved time and expense records field 1714 can indicatewhether or not to bill the service ticket even if the time accrued onthe service ticket and the expenses charged against the service tickethave not gone through an approval process.

The Bill To, Billing Address, City, State, Postal Code, and Countryfields referenced by 1715 can change the bill-to information for theservice ticket. The Bill To, Billing Address, City, State, Postal Code,and Country fields may only be enabled if the Bill this ticketseparately field 1712 is set. The fields referenced by 1715 can be usedto set up information for a different customer to which the serviceticket is billed.

The Financial Recap section 1716 can provide an overview of the time,product, and expense entries associated with the service ticket. Sincethese figures represent actual billing numbers rather than forecasts,these figures may not be derived from any data from the salesopportunity that was converted into the service ticket. The Service line1717 can provide an overview of the time entries. The Product line 1718can provide an overview of the product entries. The Expenses line 1719can provide an overview of the expense entries. Within each line 1717 –1719, the Revenue column 1721 can represent the revenue so farassociated with the service ticket for the entries represented by thatline. Within each line 1717 – 1719, the Cost column 1722 can representthe costs incurred by the company to generate the revenue in column1721. Within each line 1717 – 1719, the Margin column 1723 may becomputed as the Revenue column 1721 minus the Cost column 1722. Withineach line 1717 – 1719, the Percent column 1724 may be computed as theMargin column 1723 divided by the Revenue column 1721, expressed as apercentage. The Total line 1720 can provide an overview of the totalfinancial picture, and may be computed as the combination of lines 1717– 1719, with the Revenue, Cost, and Margin columns 1721 – 1723 computedas the sum of the corresponding columns in lines 1717 – 1719, and thePercent column computed as the Margin column 1723 divided by the Revenuecolumn 1721, expressed as a percentage.

FIG. 18 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating a sales order. The interface can show thesales order number 1801. The interface is a tabbed display with tabs1802 – 1804 that can select which information is displayed by theinterface.

The Order tab 1802 can select a display of basic information about thesales order.

The Products tab 1803 can select a display of products associated withthe sales order.

The Documents tab 1804 can select a display of documents associated withthe sales order.

The interface in FIG. 18 shows the Order tab 1802 selected, with theresult that fields 1805 - 1817 can be available for displaying andediting information associated with the sales order. The InvoicingInformation section 1818 may also be available for displaying andediting information that can affect how the sales order is billed to thecustomer.

The Company, Contact, Phone, Email, Site Name, Address, City, State,Zip, and Country fields indicated by 1805 can represent the contactinformation associated with the sales order. The Company, Contact,Phone, Email, Site Name, Address, City, State, Zip, and Country fieldsmay be converted from Contact information, as described with respect toFIGS. 7A-C, within the sales opportunity that was converted into thesales order.

The Status field 1806 can represent the status of the sales order. Forexample, The Status field may be one of the values "New", "Active","Closed", or "Inactive".

The Opportunity field 1807 can represent the sales opportunityassociated with the sales order. The Opportunity field may be the salesopportunity that was converted into the sales order.

The Order Date field 1808 can represent the date when the sales orderwas initially created. The Order Date field may be set to the date thatthe sales opportunity was converted into the sales order.

The Due Date field 1809 can represent the date by which the sales ordermust be completed. The Due Date field may be converted from Due datewithin Activities, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, withinthe sales opportunity that was converted into the sales order.

The Terms field 1810 can represent the payment terms for the salesorder, based on the customer. For example, the Terms field may be one ofthe values "Prepaid", "COD", "Net 30 days", or "Net 90 days".

The Tax Code field 1811 can represent the tax rate that is charged tothe customer for the sales order. For example, the Tax Code field may beone of the values "Nontaxable", "ServiceTax", "ProductTax", or"AgreementTax".

The Total field 1812 can represent the total revenue for all theproducts associated with the sales order. The Total field may beconverted from the total of Extended Price within Products withinForecast, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within the salesopportunity that was converted into the sales order.

The Client PO field 1813 can be used to identify a purchase order forthe billing of the sales order. The Client PO field may be convertedfrom PO number, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within thesales opportunity that was converted into the sales order.

The Location field 1814 can represent the location where the service isperformed for the sales order. The Location field may be converted fromLocation, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within the salesopportunity that was converted into the sales order.

The Department field 1815 can represent the business unit informationfor the customer associated with the sales order. The Department fieldmay be converted from Business unit, as described with respect to FIGS.7A - 7C, within the sales opportunity that was converted into the salesorder.

The Sales Rep field 1816 can represent the individual who is the salesrepresentative in contact with the customer concerning the sales order.The Sales Rep field may be converted from Primary within Sales Person,as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within the sales opportunitythat was converted into the sales order.

The Internal Notes field 1817 can represent a list of notes about thesales order that are not intended for the customer to see. For example,one of the notes might be an indication that the sales staff is willingto offer a lower price on a service agreement if the customer is willingto commit to a longer term on the agreement. The Internal Notes fieldmay be converted from Notes, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C,within the sales opportunity that was converted into the sales order.

The Invoicing Information section 1818 may also be available fordisplaying and editing information that can affect how the sales orderis billed to the customer. The Bill Sales Order only after it is closedfield 1819 may indicate that the sales order will not be billed to thecustomer until the Status within the sales order is set to "Closed". TheBill Products only after they ship field 1820 may indicate that all ofthe products associated with the sales order must be shipped before anyinvoice with the products is created for the customer. The InvoiceDescription field 1821 may allow the insertion of a description todisplay on the customer invoice, and the This will be shown as field1822 may allow the selection of whether the description in the InvoiceDescription field 1821 appears on the top of the invoice, the bottom ofthe invoice, both, or neither.

FIG. 19 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the products associated with a sales order. The interfacecan show the sales order number 1801. The interface in FIG. 19 shows theProducts tab 1803 selected, with the result that products associatedwith the sales order can be available for displaying and editing. Eachproduct can appear in a line 1901 and each line 1901 can have columns1902 – 1912 with information about the product.

The Cancelled column 1902 can indicate whether the order for the productwill be cancelled. Indicating a cancellation may remove the product fromany invoice but not remove the product from the sales order. TheCancelled column may be converted from Cancelled within Cancel withinProducts within Forecast, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C,for the product on the line 1901 within the sales opportunity that wasconverted into the sales order.

The Product ID column 1903 can be an identifier that uniquely identifiesthe product. For example, the Product ID column may be the UniversalProduct Code (UPC) of the product. The Product ID column may beconverted from Product ID within Products within Forecast, as describedwith respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the product on the line 1901 withinthe sales opportunity that was converted into the sales order.

The Bill column 1904 can be the billable status of the product. The Billcolumn may indicate whether or not the product will appear on invoicessent to customers. The letter "B" in the Bill column may indicate thatthe product is billable, i.e. the product will appear on invoices sentto customers. The Bill column may be converted from Billable withinProducts within Forecast, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C,for the product on the line 1901 within the sales opportunity that wasconverted into the sales order.

The Quantity column 1905 can be the quantity of product that is beingsold to the customer. The Quantity column may be converted from Quantitywithin Products within Forecast, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A -7C, for the product on the line 1901 within the sales opportunity thatwas converted into the sales order.

The Unit price column 1906 can be the price charged to the customer forthe product. The price may be updated as part of the procurementprocess. The price may be updated to reflect the actual price charged tothe customer once the product has been shipped. The Unit price columnmay be converted from Unit price within Products within Forecast, asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the product on the line1901 within the sales opportunity that was converted into the salesorder.

The Unit cost column 1907 can be the cost for the product charged by thevendor. The cost may be updated as part of the procurement process. Thecost may be updated to reflect the actual cost charged by the vendoronce the invoice from the vendor has been received. The Unit cost columnmay be converted from Unit cost within Products within Forecast, asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the product on the line1901 within the sales opportunity that was converted into the salesorder.

The Drop-ship column 1908 can indicate whether the product will beshipped directly from the vendor to the customer, or whether the productwill first be shipped from the vendor to the company, and then shippedfrom the company to the customer. The Drop-ship column may be convertedfrom Drop-ship within Products within Forecast, as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the product on the line 1901 within thesales opportunity that was converted into the sales order.

The Special order column 1909 can indicate whether or not the product isone that is not ordinarily handled by the vendor. The Special ordercolumn may indicate that the product will require special handling oradditional documentation. The Special order column may be converted fromSpecial order within Products within Forecast, as described with respectto FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the product on the line 1901 within the salesopportunity that was converted into the sales order.

The Bill Status column 1910 can indicate whether or not the product hasbeen invoiced. For example, the Bill Status column may be one of thevalues "Billed" or "Unbilled". The Bill Status column may be convertedfrom Status within Products within Forecast, as described with respectto FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the product on the line 1901 within the salesopportunity that was converted into the sales order.

The Invoice Number column 1911 can be the identifying number of theinvoice sent to the customer on which the product appears. The InvoiceNumber column may be converted from Invoice number within Productswithin Forecast, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, for theproduct on the line 1901 within the sales opportunity that was convertedinto the sales order.

The PO Info field 1912 can be used to identify a purchase order for thebilling of the sales order. The PO Info field may be converted from POnumber within Purchase order within Products within Forecast, asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, within the sales opportunitythat was converted into the sales order.

FIG. 20 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor viewing a project as a Gantt chart. The interface can provide for aselection of the method used to view the project 2001. The interface isa tabbed display with tabs 2002 – 2013 that can select which informationis displayed by the interface.

The General tab 2002 can display the basic information for the project.When creating a new project, the General tab 2002 can also configure thebasic billing settings.

The Work Plan tab 2003 can show the organization of the project intophases, sub-phases, and tasks. The Work Plan tab may be the tab that isused to build the project work plan.

The Views tab 2004 can display the structure of the project in severaldifferent forms. The Views tab may be able to display the project as aGantt chart, as a project summary, and as a project budget by variance.

The Issues tab 2005 can facilitate the creation and maintenance of issueservice tickets for the project, which are service tickets that arecreated to address problems and issues that arise during theimplementation of the project.

The Notes tab 2006 can facilitate the creation and update of notes forthe project. Notes were previously described with respect to FIGS. 7A -7C.

The Documents tab 2007 can facilitate the creation and update ofdocuments for the project. Documents were previously described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C.

The Project Team tab 2008 can display and manage the team members forthe project.

The Contacts tab 2009 can display and manage the relevant contactsassociated with the project.

The Finance tab 2010 can display and manage the billing settings for theproject.

The Billing Rates tab 2011 can facilitate the creation, display, andediting of billing rates based on the work roles of team members for theproject.

The Recap tab 2012 can display a summary of the billed invoices,unbilled time, and project expenses for the project.

The Products tab 2013 can display all of the products that areassociated with the project.

The interface in FIG. 20 shows the Views tab 2004 selected and theCurrent View field 2001 set to "Gantt", with the result that theinterface can display a Gantt chart showing the project breakdown.Project phases and sub-phases can be shown in bold text such as 2014,and project tasks can be shown in normal text such as 2015. Theindentation of the lines can indicate the organization of the project.For example, line 2015 is indented under line 2014, indicating that task2015 is part of phase 2014. Columns 2016 – 2021 can display informationabout the phases, sub-phases, and tasks contained within the project.

The Description column 2016 can be the name of a phase, sub-phase, ortask. The Description column may be converted from Activities, asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 7A -7C, for the activity within thesales opportunity that was converted into the project.

The Budget Hours column 2017 can be the expected amount of time tocomplete a phase, sub-phase, or task. For a phase or sub-phase 2014, theBudget Hours column may be computed as the sum of the numbers for allthe tasks contained in the phase or sub-phase. For a task 2015, theBudget Hours column may be converted from Time within Activities, asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the activity within thesales opportunity that was converted into the project.

The Scheduled Start column 2018, Scheduled Finish column 2019, andScheduled Hours column 2020 can indicate the scheduled time for thephase, sub-phase, or task. The Scheduled Hours column 2020 should matchthe Budget Hours column 2017 after a sales opportunity is converted to aproject, and may be converted from Time within Activities, as describedwith respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, for the activity within the salesopportunity that was converted into the project. The Scheduled Finishcolumn 2019 should be the Scheduled Start column 2018 plus the ScheduledHours column, taking into account the work schedule, i.e. onlyscheduling time during work hours. The Scheduled Start column 2018 canbe generated using a project leveling algorithm based on all of theactivities and resources for the project. The information that drivesthe project leveling algorithm may be converted from Due Date withinActivities and Time within Activities, as described with respect toFIGS. 7A - 7C, for the activity within the sales opportunity that wasconverted into the project.

Column 2021 can be the graphical representation of the Scheduled Startcolumn 2018 and Scheduled Finish column 2019, as a Gantt chart, in a waythat is easy to see and understand. The Gantt chart may facilitate theunderstanding of how the project is scheduled.

The description of FIG. 20 has been done with the understanding that theconversion of a sales opportunity to a project used Activities withinthe sales opportunity, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, togenerate the project task data during the conversion. In anotherembodiment, the conversion can use Products within Forecast within thesales opportunity, where the Class within Products within Forecastindicates that the product is a service product, as described withrespect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, to generate the project task data during theconversion. In still another embodiment, the conversion can useEstimates within Forecast within the sales opportunity, where the Typewithin Estimates within Forecast indicates that the estimate is for aservice activity, as described with respect to FIGS. 7A - 7C, togenerate the product task data during the conversion. In still anotherembodiment, the conversion can use a combination of some or all of thesesources of data to generate the project task data during the conversion.

FIG. 21 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating a phase or sub-phase of a project. Theinterface can show the name of the project 2101, and descriptive text2102 indicating that the interface is for adding a phase to the project.The fields 2103 – 2113 can be completed with the information forcreating or updating the phase. The Phase field 2103 can be the name ofthe phase. The Part of Phase field 2104 can indicate which phase, ifany, contains the sub-phase. The Department field 2105 can be thebusiness unit within the company that is responsible for completing thephase. The Project Board field 2106 can indicate which project boardwill display the phase. The Bill Time field 2107 can indicate how timespent on completing the service ticket should be billed to the customer.For example, the Bill Time field may be one of the values "Billable"(time accrued is billable to the customer), "Do Not Bill" (time accruedis not billable to the customer, and does not appear on an invoice), or"No Charge" (time accrued is not billable to the customer, but appearson the invoice as a zero charge). The Bill Expenses field 2108 canindicate how expenses charged against the completion of the serviceticket should be billed to the customer. For example, the Bill Expensesfield may be one of the values "Billable" (expenses are billable to thecustomer), "Do Not Bill" (expenses are not billable to the customer, anddo not appear on an invoice), or "No Charge" (expenses are not billableto the customer, but appear on the invoice as a zero charge). The Markas Milestone field 2109 can indicate whether or not the phase will bedisplayed as a milestone in the Project Summary display. The Add-onphase to be billed separately field 2110 can indicated whether or notthe phase is being billed separately from the rest of the project. Anadd-on phase may be added after the project is already in progress,based on additional work and constraints that are discovered after thework has already started. The Notes field 2111 can contain additionalnotes about the phase. The Agreement field 2112 can indicate theagreement with the customer that governs the billing of the phase of theproject. The Deadline field 2113 can be a date by which the phase mustbe completed.

FIG. 22 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating a task of a project. The interface canindicate that a new task is being created 2201, or an existing task isbeing updated. The fields 2202 – 2225 can be completed with theinformation for creating or updating the task. The Project field 2202can be the name of the project containing the project task. The Phasefield 2203 can be the name of the phase or sub-phase containing theproject task. The Company field 2204 can be the company name for thecustomer for which the project task is being completed. The Contact,Phone, Email, Site Name, Address, City, State, Zip, and Country fields2205 can be the contact information for the customer for which theproject task is being completed. The Agreement field 2206 can indicatethe agreement with the customer that governs the billing of the projecttask. The Opportunity field 2207 can be the sales opportunity that wasconverted into the project that contains the project task. The RequiredDate field 2208 can be a date by which the project task must becompleted. The SLA field 2209 may be unused for a project task. TheSummary field 2210 can be a short summary describing the project task.The Detail Description field 2211 can be a longer, more detaileddescription of the project task. The WBS Code field 2212 can begenerated based on the position of the project task within the projectplan, and may be labeled a.b.c.de.f.. with as many entries as there arelevels in the project. The Project Board field 2213 can indicate whichproject board will display the project task. The Status field 2214 canbe the status that will be displayed on the project board for theproject task. The Service Type field 2215 can represent the type ofservice being performed for the project task. The Service Sub Type field2216 can represent a further categorization of the type of service beingperformed for the project task. The Service Item field 2217 canrepresent a still further categorization of the type of service beingperformed for the project task. The categorization represented by theService Item field may be used to create task lists for common servicesand associate the task lists with project tasks, which may allow thecreation of a standard template to associate with project tasks. TheSource field 2218 can represent the original source of the project task.The Where field 2219 can represent the location where the service isperformed for the project task. The Team field 2220 can represent thegroup of people that work on the project task. The Severity field 2221can represent the severity level of (how many people are affected by)the project task. The Impact field 2222 can represent the impact of (howmuch business processes are affected by) the project task. The Priorityfield 2223 can represent the priority of the project task. The Remainingfield 2224 can represent the budgeted time for the project task minusthe actual time that has been spent so far on the project task. TheBudget Hours field 2225 can represent the amount of time budgeted forthe project task.

FIG. 23 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating the notes associated with a project. Theinterface can describe the project 2301. In FIG. 23 , the Notes tab 2006is selected, which may then provide an interface for creating,displaying, and updating notes that are associated with the project. Thenotes are indicated by a header 2302, and the notes themselves 2303 canbe added, updated, and deleted in the interface control.

FIG. 24 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating the documents associated with a project. Theinterface can describe the project 2301. In FIG. 24 , the Documents tab2007 is selected, which may then provide an interface for creating,displaying, and updating documents that are associated with the project.The documents associated with the project are indicated in a list, whereeach line of the list 2401 represents one document. The columns 2402 –2407 can indicate more information about each item in the list 2401. TheView column 2402 can provide a link for accessing the document. The Typecolumn 2403 can display an icon that represents the type of thedocument, such as a text file, Microsoft Word document, Adobe PDFdocument, and so on. The type of the document may be determined usingpart of the filename of the document. The Title column 2404 can be thetitle of the document. The Filename column 2405 can be the filename ofthe document. The Last Update column 2406 can indicate the last timethat the document was modified, or if the document has never beenmodified, the time at which the document was first created. The Ownercolumn 2407 can indicate the identity of the person who initiallycreated the document.

FIG. 25 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor creating and updating the products associated with a project. Theinterface can describe the project 2301. In FIG. 25 , the Products tab2013 is selected, which may then provide an interface for creating,displaying, and updating products that are associated with the project.The products associated with the project are indicated in a list, whereeach line of the list 2501 represents one product. The columns 2502 –2510 can indicate more information about each item in the list 2501. TheCancelled column 2502 can indicate whether the order for the productwill be cancelled. Indicating a cancellation may remove the product fromany invoice but not remove the product from the project. The Product IDcolumn 2503 can be an identifier that uniquely identifies the product.For example, the Product ID column may be the Universal Product Code(UPC) of the product. The Bill column 2504 can be the billable status ofthe product. The Bill column may indicate whether or not the productwill appear on invoices sent to customers. The letter "B" in the Billcolumn may indicate that the product is billable, i.e. the product willappear on invoices sent to customers. The Quantity column 2505 can bethe quantity of product that is being sold to the customer. The UnitPrice column 2506 can be the price charged to the customer for theproduct. The price may be updated as part of the procurement process.The price may be updated to reflect the actual price charged to thecustomer once the product has been shipped. The UOM column 2507 canindicate what unit is used for quoting the product. For example, the UOMcolumn may be one of the values "Feet", "Hours", "Month", "Each","Spool", or "Case". The Serial number column 2508 can be the serialnumber for the product to ship. If the product is serialized, thewarehouse may be required to deliver the product associated with thespecified serial number. The Unit cost column 2509 can be the cost forthe product charged by the vendor. The cost may be updated as part ofthe procurement process. The cost may be updated to reflect the actualcost charged by the vendor once the invoice from the vendor has beenreceived. The Drop-ship column 2510 can indicate whether the productwill be shipped directly from the vendor to the customer, or whether theproduct will first be shipped from the vendor to the company, and thenshipped from the company to the customer.

FIG. 26 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing a project board. The interface can describe the name of theproject board 2601. Each line 2602 in the project board can represent asingle project. The columns 2603 – 2609 can provide information abouteach line 2602 in the project board. The Company Name column 2603 can bethe name of the company for which the project work is being completed.The Project Name column 2604 can be the name the project. The StatusDescription column 2605 can be the current status of the project. TheManager Name column 2606 can be the name of the project manager that isresponsible for the project. The Type Description column 2607 can be thetype of the project, such as "Design" or "Installation". The Date Startcolumn 2608 can be the date on which the entire project begins. The DateEnd column 2609 can be the predicted completion data of the project.

FIG. 27 is an illustrative example of an embodiment of a user interfacefor managing the scheduling of a project. The interface can be labeled2701. Each row in the interface can be a resource 2702 available to theproject, and can have some additional descriptive information 2703. Eachcolumn 2704 in the interface can be a time period for scheduling; forexample, in FIG. 27 the time period for each column 2704 is one day.Each column entry can label the time period 2705, indicate the overallutilization 2706 for all resources during that time period, indicate theutilization 2707 for the one resource associated with that line, andshow the details of the scheduling of individual tasks 2708. The Ganttchart representation of the project schedule can be shown at the bottomof the screen 2709. The process of scheduling manually may then be doneby dragging and dropping a task 2710 from the project schedule 2709 to aresource area 2708. If there is a conflict with a task already assignedfor that resource, the interface may allow moving the task to anothertime or resource.

FIG. 28 is an illustrative flowchart depicting one embodiment of amethod of converting a sales opportunity to a service ticket. The method2801 can include a sales opportunity module receiving a sales lead datastructure comprising at least one sales lead (2802). The method 2801 caninclude the sales opportunity module applying at least one qualificationcriterion to the sales leads in the data structure (2803). The method2801 can include the sales opportunity identifying a sales lead as asales opportunity (2804). The method 2801 can include a service tickettranslation module selecting data from the sales opportunity andincluding it in a service ticket (2805). The method 2801 can include theservice ticket translation module translating the selected data into theservice ticket while maintaining the selected data (2806). The method2801 can include the service ticket translation module providing theservice ticket to a service board (2807).

FIG. 29 is an illustrative flowchart depicting one embodiment of amethod of identifying a sales lead as a sales opportunity, based on atleast one qualification criterion. The method 2901 can include analyzingActivities to determine the number of times the sales lead has beencontacted (2902). The method 2901 can include checking to see whetherthe number of times the saled lead has been contacted meets a threshold(2903). In one embodiment, the method 2901 can include analyzing Nextstep to determine whether a phone call has been completed with the saleslead (2904). The method 2901 can include checking to see whether a phonecall has been completed with the sales lead (2905). In one embodiment,the method 2901 can include analyzing Sales stage to determine whetheran appointment has been set up with the sales lead (2906). The method2901 can include checking to see whether an appointment has been set upwith the sales lead (2907). In one embodiment, the method 2901 caninclude analyzing Quotes to determine whether a quote is set up for thesales lead (2908). The method 2901 can include checking to see whether aquote is set up for the sales lead (2909). In one embodiment, the method2901 can include identifying the sales lead as a sales opportunity(2910). In one embodiment, the method 2901 can include not identifyingthe sales lead as a sales opportunity (2911). The method can includejoining a plurality of control flows (2912).

FIG. 30 is an illustrative flowchart depicting one embodiment of amethod of selecting data of a sales opportunity by a service tickettranslation module for inclusion in a service ticket. The method 3001can include analyzing Close date to determine whether the salesopportunity has been closed (3002). The method 3001 can include checkingto see whether the Close date has already passed (3003). In oneembodiment, the method 3001 can include analyzing Won within Revenue todetermine whether this required data is present in the sales opportunity(3004). The method 3001 can include checking to see whether Won withinRevenue is greater than zero (3005). In one embodiment, the method 3001can include analyzing Revenue, and the sum of all of the Expected pricevalues within Products within Forecast to see if they are internallyconsistent in the sales opportunity (3006). The method 3001 can includechecking to see whether the Revenue matches the sum of all Expectedprice values (3007). In one embodiment, the method 3001 can includeproceeding with selecting data from the sales opportunity for inclusionin a service ticket (3008). In one embodiment, the method 3001 caninclude not proceeding with selecting data from the sales opportunityfor inclusion in a service ticket (3009). The method can includelimiting the selection of data to that which is relevant to a serviceticket (3010). The method can include joining a plurality of controlflows (3011).

FIG. 31 is an illustrative flowchart depicting one embodiment of amethod of translating selected data of a sales opportunity into aservice ticket by a service ticket translation module. The method 3101can include analyzing Close date to estimate the service start time,analyzing line items in Quote to determine promises to customers, andanalyzing Inventory availability within Products within Forecast toestimate procurement delay (3102). The method 3101 can include derivingthe service ticket deadline from the analysis (3103). The method 3101can include analyzing Products within Forecast to determine whether anemail server is included (3104). The method 3101 can include checking tosee whether an email server is included (3105). In one embodiment, themethod 3101 can include generating service tickets to install thehardware for the server, install the operating system on the server, andinstall and configure the email server software (3106). The method 3101can include analyzing Revenue (3107). The method 3101 can includechecking to see whether the Revenue is above a threshold (3108). In oneembodiment, the method 3101 can include analyzing the history of Salesstage (3109). The method 3101 can include checking to see whether thehistory of Sales stage indicates that the customer has expedited thesale (3110). In one embodiment, the method 3101 can include increasingthe priority of the service ticket (3111). The method can includejoining a plurality of control flows (3112).

Embodiments of the subject matter and the operations described in thisspecification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or incomputer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structuresdisclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or incombinations of one or more of them. The subject matter described inthis specification can be implemented as one or more computer programs,i.e., one or more circuits of computer program instructions, encoded onone or more computer storage media for execution by, or to control theoperation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or in addition,the program instructions can be encoded on an artificially generatedpropagated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical, orelectromagnetic signal that is generated to encode information fortransmission to suitable receiver apparatus for execution by a dataprocessing apparatus. A computer storage medium can be, or be includedin, a computer-readable storage device, a computer-readable storagesubstrate, a random or serial access memory array or device, or acombination of one or more of them. Moreover, while a computer storagemedium is not a propagated signal, a computer storage medium can be asource or destination of computer program instructions encoded in anartificially generated propagated signal. The computer storage mediumcan also be, or be included in, one or more separate components or media(e.g., multiple CDs, disks, or other storage devices).

It should be understood that the systems described above may providemultiple ones of any or each of those components and these componentsmay be provided on either a standalone machine or, in some embodiments,on multiple machines in a distributed system. The systems and methodsdescribed above may be implemented as a method, apparatus or article ofmanufacture using programming and/or engineering techniques to producesoftware, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. In addition,the systems and methods described above may be provided as one or morecomputer-readable programs embodied on or in one or more articles ofmanufacture. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein isintended to encompass code or logic accessible from and embedded in oneor more computer-readable devices, firmware, programmable logic, memorydevices (e.g., EEPROMs, ROMs, PROMs, RAMs, SRAMs, etc.), hardware (e.g.,integrated circuit chip, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA),Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.), electronicdevices, a computer readable non-volatile storage unit (e.g., CD-ROM,floppy disk, hard disk drive, etc.). The article of manufacture may beaccessible from a file server providing access to the computer-readableprograms via a network transmission line, wireless transmission media,signals propagating through space, radio waves, infrared signals, etc.The article of manufacture may be a flash memory card or a magnetictape. The article of manufacture includes hardware logic as well assoftware or programmable code embedded in a computer readable mediumthat is executed by a processor. In general, the computer-readableprograms may be implemented in any programming language, such as LISP,PERL, C, C++, C#, PROLOG, or in any byte code language such as JAVA. Thesoftware programs may be stored on or in one or more articles ofmanufacture as object code.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated in a single software product or packaged intomultiple software products.

References to "or" may be construed as inclusive so that any termsdescribed using "or" may indicate any of a single, more than one, andall of the described terms.

Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described.Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In somecases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a differentorder and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In certain embodiments, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyinventions or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures specific to particular implementations of particularinventions. Certain features described in this specification in thecontext of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combinationin a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in thecontext of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multipleembodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover,although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

1. A method of managing a sale via a sales management system comprising at least one processor executing on a computing device, the method comprising: receiving, by a sales opportunity module executing on the computing device, a sales leads data structure comprising at least one sales lead; identifying, by the sales opportunity module, based on at least one qualification criterion, a sales lead of the sales leads data structure as a sales opportunity; selecting, by a project translation module executing on the computing device, data of the sales opportunity for inclusion in a proiect; translating, by the project translation module, the selected data of the sales opportunity into the project, the project translation module maintaining the selected data of the sales opportunity; and providing the project to a project management module.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the sales lead comprises at least one of: comparing a number of times the sales lead has been contacted with a threshold; determining a phone call has been completed with the sales lead; determining an appointment is set up with the sales lead; and determining that a quote is set up for the sales lead.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting data of the sales opportunity comprises: identifying a closed sales opportunity.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting data of the sales opportunity comprises: identifying a sales opportunity that includes a required data value.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting data of the sales opportunity comprises: performing a consistency test on a sales opportunity to identify consistent data.
 6. (canceled)
 7. (canceled)
 8. (canceled)
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein translating comprises: obtaining historical values of the selected data.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting, by a sales order translation module executing on the computing device, data of the sales opportunity for inclusion in a sales order; translating, by the sales order translation module, the selected data of the sales opportunity into the sales order, the sales order translation module maintaining the selected data of the sales opportunity; and providing the sales order to a sales order management module.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: storing, by the sales opportunity module, a plurality of quotes associated with the sales opportunity; storing, by the sales opportunity module, a plurality of documents associated with the sales opportunity; storing, by the sales opportunity module, a plurality of notes associated with the sales opportunity; translating, by the sales order translation module, the plurality of quotes associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of quotes associated with the sales order; translating, by the sales order translation module, the plurality of documents associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of documents associated with the sales order; and translating, by the sales order translation module, the plurality of notes associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of notes associated with the sales order.
 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising: creating a change data structure, based on one or more changes to the sales opportunity; and translating, by the sales order translation module, the change data structure into one or more changes to the sales order corresponding to the one or more changes to the sales opportunity.
 13. (canceled)
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing, by the sales opportunity module, a plurality of quotes associated with the sales opportunity; storing, by the sales opportunity module, a plurality of documents associated with the sales opportunity; storing, by the sales opportunity module, a plurality of notes associated with the sales opportunity; translating, by the project translation module, the plurality of quotes associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of quotes associated with the project; translating, by the project translation module, the plurality of documents associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of documents associated with the project; and translating, by the project translation module, the plurality of notes associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of notes associated with the project.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: creating a change data structure, based on one or more changes to the sales opportunity; and translating, by the project translation module, the change data structure into one or more changes to the project corresponding to the one or more changes to the sales opportunity.
 16. (canceled)
 17. (canceled)
 18. A sales management system for managing a sale, comprising: a sales opportunity module configured to: receive a sales leads data structure comprising at least one sales lead; identify, based on at least one qualification criterion, a sales lead of the sales leads data structure as a sales opportunity; and a project translation module configured to: select data of the sales opportunity for inclusion in a project; translate, by maintaining the selected data of the sales opportunity, the selected data of the sales opportunity into the project; and provide the project to a project management module .
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the sales opportunity module is configured to: compare a number of times the sales lead has been contacted with a threshold; determine a phone call has been completed with the sales lead; determine an appointment is set up with the sales lead; and/or determine that a quote is set up for the sales lead.
 20. The system of claim 18, wherein the sales opportunity module is configured to: identify a closed sales opportunity.
 21. The system of claim 18, wherein the sales opportunity module is configured to: identify a sales opportunity that includes a required data value.
 22. (canceled)
 23. (canceled)
 24. (canceled)
 25. (canceled)
 26. (canceled)
 27. The system of claim 18, further comprising: a sales order translation module configured to: select data of the sales opportunity for inclusion in a sales order; translate, by maintaining the selected data of the sales opportunity, the selected data of the sales opportunity into the sales order; and provide the sales order to a sales order management module.
 28. The system of claim 27, wherein: the sales opportunity module is further configured to: store a plurality of quotes associated with the sales opportunity; store a plurality of documents associated with the sales opportunity; and store a plurality of notes associated with the sales opportunity; and the sales order translation module is further configured to: translate the plurality of quotes associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of quotes associated with the sales order; translate the plurality of documents associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of documents associated with the sales order; and translate the plurality of notes associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of notes associated with the sales order.
 29. The system of claim 27, further comprising: an update module configured to create a change data structure based on one or more changes to the sales opportunity; and wherein the sales order translation module further configured to translate the change data structure into one or more changes to the sales order corresponding to the one or more changes to the sales opportunity.
 30. (canceled)
 31. The system of claim 18, wherein: the sales opportunity module is further configured to: store a plurality of quotes associated with the sales opportunity; store a plurality of documents associated with the sales opportunity; and store a plurality of notes associated with the sales opportunity; and the project translation module is further configured to: translate the plurality of quotes associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of quotes associated with the project; translate the plurality of documents associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of documents associated with the project; and translate the plurality of notes associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of notes associated with the project.
 32. The system of claim 18, further comprising: an update module configured to create a change data structure based on one or more changes to the sales opportunity; and wherein the project translation module further configured to translate the change data structure into one or more changes to the project corresponding to the one or more changes to the sales opportunity.
 33. The system of claim 18, wherein: the sales opportunity module is further configured to: store a plurality of quotes associated with the sales opportunity; store a plurality of documents associated with the sales opportunity; and store a plurality of notes associated with the sales opportunity; and the service ticket translation module is further configured to: translate the plurality of quotes associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of quotes associated with the service ticket; translate the plurality of documents associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of documents associated with the service ticket; and translate the plurality of notes associated with the sales opportunity into a plurality of notes associated with the service ticket.
 34. The system of claim 18, further comprising: an update module configured to create a change data structure based on one or more changes to the sales opportunity; and wherein the service ticket translation module further configured to translate the change data structure into one or more changes to the service ticket corresponding to the one or more changes to the sales opportunity. 